YuGiOh! Delta: The Finale
by Rebster6
Summary: In this story, everything ends. Enjoy.
1. Chapter 1

**Welcome, one and all, to The Finale.**

**Before we get started properly, can we first say a huge thank you to everyone who stuck with us through this whole story. Yugioh Delta was a much larger and more stressful project than we could ever have imagined, especially considering that the initial inspiration for it was basically "We have some fan-made Numbers... hey, let's make a fanfic so they can have a place to live". Still, we made it in the end. We'll put a proper closing statement at the end of this story, but for now, let's just get on with the story. Sound good? Good.**

* * *

_I never thought it would end this way._

_And I'm not just saying that to be cheesy or mysterious... I mean it. None of us could ever have predicted what would happen on the day we attacked the Professor's stronghold. Looking back on it, we still can't quite believe that it actually happened, that it was all real. And who could blame us? If I had just woken up after a day like that, I'd have just thought it was just a bad dream – a really really bad one. No stretch of my imagination could've made me believe it was real._

_Well, I suppose I'll know that for sure when I can actually sleep again. It's been nearly two days since then, and I haven't gotten so much as a wink of sleep. Everyone keeps telling me that I need to rest, to conserve my energy, to try and put my mind at ease... but how can I? After everything I did, after the horrific decision I made that day, how can I possibly just lay my head down and sleep? How could anybody?_

_That decision... don't get me wrong, I'm glad I made it. By taking responsibility and making that choice, I saved my teammates – Katie, James, Leah and Dan – from going through the hell I am right now. Yes the experience was traumatic and horrifying for them, and if we ever make it out of this place alive then I doubt they'll ever be able to forget it. But at least they weren't the ones who caused it. At least they don't have that guilt weighing down on them every second of every hour. That's the one victory I can claim in all of this: I saved my teammates from the guilt of a god._

_A "god"? Wow. That sounded a bit pretentious of me, didn't it?_

_I guess that's why Leah suggested I write this 'diary', of sorts. It helps to order my thoughts, and stops me from wallowing in the endless pit of despair like the monster I am. It's weird... I know full well that no-one will ever read this, yet writing it still seems to give my mind some modicum of comfort and structure. It's distracting, and in being distracting it's also helping. So why stop there? If writing these few little diary entries has helped me this much, maybe seeing that whole hellish day laid out in my own handwriting will help me even more. Yeah... alright, I guess it's worth a try._

_Then sit back, relax, and let me tell you a story._

_The story of how we destroyed the world._

* * *

**Fun Fact #1: Just to clarify, yes, this little extract of ****Matt's diary **was written by him after the invasion of Usur's building. This first half was put here as a prelude, of sorts. You'll get the second half of it at the end of this story, once you know exactly what happened that day.

**Fun Fact #2: This idea for the main character writing a diary to organise their thoughts is quite a common way of changing up one's style of writing, but in this case, we took the idea from the book 'Necropolis' by Anthony Horowitz (don't sue us, etc). And yes, I know that we bang on about that book a lot, but what do you expect? It's a very good book.**

**Fun Fact #3: Flashbacks, flashforwards', flashsideways'... this is less like an Episode of Naruto now and more like Doctor Who.**

**Fun Fact #4: Real content next time, we promise.**


	2. Chapter 2

The final day dawned dark and grim.

So thought Matt as he, Skyler, and the rest of Team Delta trudged down the stairs of Skyler's apartment building. In a way, the weather seemed somewhat fitting – it would've been weird if the day they invaded the Professor's building was a bright sunny day. Nevertheless, every tiny window they passed on their way down seemed to darken his mood ever so slightly, reminding him of just what an arduous day they had ahead of them.

Granted, last night hadn't been much better. Skyler had point-blank refused to start up a conversation with any of them once he'd returned to the room, and had instead sat on the sofa – which he had pushed up against the wall to give them space to sleep – and organised his Deck, acting for all the world as if he was alone in the room. This had continued all the way through dinner and right up until they went to bed. Even when they woke up the next morning, the only sound they'd gotten out him was a grunt of consent when they had asked to use his bathroom.

And now here he was, leading them down to the ground floor, now carrying a backpack, but still in total silence. Briefly, Matt remembered that Leah had left the room at about the same time Skyler had yesterday, and he wondered if she'd said something to him...

He dismissed the idea pretty quickly. Leah hated Skyler, but she wasn't stupid. There was no way she'd go picking a fight with the guy while staying under his roof. No, the most likely explanation was that Skyler was still thinking about what happened yesterday, and the nasty events that occurred with his daughter. Matt couldn't imagine the pain he must be in. His silence was understandable then; Matt supposed that he wouldn't be up to talking much if he'd just been through that.

At that point his train of thought was interrupted as they reached the bottom of the stairs, and Skyler lead them through the minimalistic reception area and out into the dark, gloomy street. There, they met a familiar face.

"Good morning Skyler. Good morning Deltas," the Stranger said, striding over to them from where she'd been leaning. "I trust you all slept well?"

"'Well' is a bit of a strong word," James muttered. "We slept. Let's just leave it at that."

The Stranger nodded. She herself was dressed in the same black leather jacket and black trousers that she'd worn every time the Deltas had seen her; they were starting to wonder if she ever wore anything else. A pearlescent white duel disk was strapped to her arm in preparation for the day ahead, and she was still wearing her trademark sunglasses – which, in such dark and dismal weather, just made her look strange.

"Right," she said, clapping her hands together in a business-like manner. "Now that we're all here, we should sort out our weapons and lay down our plan of action. Skyler, would you mind handing out the gadgets in your bag?"

"How did you-" Skyler started to say, then he thought better of it. Of course she knew. This woman knew everything. Seething quietly, he unzipped the bag and pulled out a metal gadget, similar in structure to the Delta's bands, but a bit bulkier.

"What's that?" Katie asked.

"It's a Duel Anchor," Skyler said dismissively. "You've seen it before. It lets you snare an enemy duelist so they can't escape, and won't disappear until a duel is completed. I only have five spares, one for each of you. _Don't_ break them."

"We're not stupid, you know," Katie snapped back.

Skyler just grunted and began passing out the machines to the Deltas. Matt, Katie, and Dan all fitted them to their right hands, while Leah fixed hers to her left. But when it came to James, who held out a hand expectantly, Skyler took one look at him and let out a harsh bark of laughter. "In your dreams," he said contemptuously.

"I thought you said you have five," James said indignantly. "One for each of us-"

"One for each of the _duelists_," Skyler clarified, tossing the final Duel Anchor over to the Stranger, who immediately snapped it onto her own arm. "Don't flatter yourself by thinking you're one of us, kid – I've seen you duel that nurse with the healing Number, and let me tell you now, you're hopeless. You're not strong, you're not useful, and you're not necessary. You're basically just along for the ride."

James was furious at this, and was about to utter something he'd deeply regret when the Stranger stepped in. "Don't start that you two," she said sternly. "This is no time to be fighting amongst ourselves."

"Come on man," Dan said, stepping up to James and – with Katie's help – pulled him away. "Don't start something here. It's not worth it." James nodded and backed away, but his face remained positively livid.

"Ok, now that that's settled, we should discuss our battle plan," the Stranger said. The six of them gathered around her to listen. "The plan is pretty simple: Usur will almost certainly have guards waiting to stop us, so Deltas, your job is to catch them in duels and stall for time."

"Hang on, question," Leah said. "How do we know that the Professor's guards will be duelists? They might just be burly guys with tasers."

"Usur wants the Numbers back," Skyler said simply.

"Indeed," the Stranger nodded. "The Professor desperately needs the Numbers you five possess, so his guards will almost certainly be duelists using bands like yours. His plan is to have them defeat you and reacquire your Numbers, so you must defeat them – but at the same time, you must stall them for long enough that Skyler and I can enter the building and have a good look around."

"And why are we doing that?" Matt asked suspiciously. "What will you be looking for?"

"Two things," the woman replied. "Firstly, evidence. If we can internally hack into Usur's database and find either digital or physical evidence of what the Professor's been doing, we can hand it over to the authorities and allow them to deal with him. Because, as I'm sure you're aware, everything the Professor's been doing is incredibly illegal, and he's only gotten away with it so far because he's been so secretive. But if we can find evidence to expose his wrongdoings, the authorities will lock him up and dismantle his work for us."

Dan frowned. "So if you're not going to be dueling, why do you need a duel disk or Duel Anchor?"

"It's a precaution," she replied. "Usur may well have more guards inside the building, so I need to be able to bide Skyler time while he keeps searching. He used to work for the Professor: he knows the building layout better than me."

"Makes sense," Matt nodded. "I like this plan so far. No blowing up buildings, no hostile takeovers, no messing around. Just getting in, getting evidence, and getting out again. I'm willing to buy you time for that."

"Agreed," Katie said, and the rest of the team agreed. "So what about the second thing? What else are you looking for in there?"

"The Professor himself," Skyler said, cracking his knuckles fiercely. "If he escapes and goes into hiding before the police get him, all our efforts will be wasted. We need to find the madman and incapacitate him, then turn him in along with the evidence."

"Rubbish!" Leah snapped. "Don't lie to us Skyler! You just want to find him and get revenge on him. That's all you've wanted from day one!"

Skyler glared at her, and something resembling an understanding seemed to pass between them. "Don't accuse me of being selfish, feisty Delta," he replied. "Yes I want the Professor to suffer, but I'm not overly fussy about the method. Letting him rot in a jail cell for a decade or two is fine in my book. But if it so happens that I come across him and get to pulverise him in a duel first... well, that's just the icing on the cake."

Leah glared back at him just as fiercely, but didn't say anything else. She seemed to have accepted this explanation... and secretly, Matt was relieved. The last thing they needed was more arguments.

"Well, if we're all agreed," the Stranger said, "then I suppose we should all get moving. Matt, would you like to lead the way?" Matt nodded and, as one, the group began walking up the slowly-filling streets. As she was about to follow, however, Leah was held back by the Stranger. "Leah, a quick word," she said quietly. "Do you still have that red crystal with you? The one you took from the Arcane Caves after you met with Mizael?"

Leah froze, staring at the woman in shock as the memories came flooding back. "How do you know about that?" she whispered.

"That's not important," the woman replied. "Do you still have it?"

"Yes..." Leah nodded slowly. She'd barely let it out of her sight ever since she'd gotten it.

"Good. Keep it with you. If I'm right about the enemy waiting for us, you may have need of it. Here," she added, reaching into her pocket and taking out a single Duel Monsters card, which she handed to Leah. "Take this with you too. Put it in your Deck and use it."

Hesitantly, Leah accepted the card and flipped it around to see what it was. What she saw surprised her, but not in a pleasant way. "Um... this is a blank card," she pointed out. "I have loads of these back in my room. Everyone does."

"Put it in your Deck regardless," the Stranger urged her. "Trust me on this – you'll need it for the upcoming fight."

Leah spent another few seconds struggling with herself, then sighed and nodded. This woman was on their side now, and she clearly knew more than she was letting on – they had to trust her.

"Good," the woman nodded as Leah added the card to her Deck. "Now let's catch up with the others. Skyler isn't exactly the patient type."

*AN HOUR LATER*

A lengthy trek across the city had finally brought them a stone's throw away from the Professor's skyscraper-like building. from the outside, it was an intimidating thing that loomed far above them, completely separated from the buildings around it by roads – roads which were strangely devoid of traffic and pedestrians. Even the pavements were deserted. The seven of them had passed some road works on the way up here, but they were unaware that this entire system of roads and streetways had been completely shut to the public. And if they were, why had no-one stopped _them_ going through? The thought made them suspicious, but at least now, if a duel occurred, they could do it without involving any innocent bystanders.

Their target was the main door, just around the corner from where they were hiding now. It was the only entrance that they knew of, and – as the Stranger had predicted – four people were standing guard by it.

But not the people they were expecting.

"Wait... oh my god, I know that guy!" Katie gasped, peering around the corner. "Matt, it's Durbe, the cloaked guy we met outside Usur's office once."

"What?" Matt said, surprised. "Let me see." Katie backed away, and Matt took her place, peeping cautiously around the corner. "You're right, that's definitely him. And he's not alone. Remember that huge guy we met after we dueled the Dragon Sages?"

"Yeah..."

"He's there too."

"What?! It can't be!" One by one, the team all took turns peering out at the group of people chatting outside the front doors, with Skyler just watching them irritably. Without fail, all of them confirmed what Katie and Matt had seen: that was definitely Durbe and the muscly man they'd seen before. When Leah's turn came, however, she received a nasty shock.

"Mizael..." she whispered. "That's Mizael, the man I met in the caves... he's there with them."

"Seriously?" Dan said. "Are you sure? What would he be doing here?"

"What would _any_ of them be doing there?" James added. "And who's the fourth one? Anyone recognise him?"

"Who cares?!" Skyler snapped, drawing their attention immediately. "It doesn't matter if you've met them before or not. Hell, I couldn't care less if they were your parents. They're standing in between us and the doors, so it's your job to stall them not matter what. Clear?" The five of them hesitated for a second, then nodded. "Good. Bloody get on with it then!"

Instinctively, the four kids looked at Matt for instructions. Matt's focus had been completely thrown by the discovery of Durbe and the other cloaked men, but he knew that Skyler was right – it would be stupid to wait and give Usur time to fortify himself further. The attack had to come now.

So Matt calmed himself, took a single deep breath, and nodded once.

As one, the five Deltas immediately broke cover and ran towards the four men... who were actually so engrossed in their hushed conversation that they didn't spot them right away. In fact, the Deltas had covered most of the distance between them by the time one of the men – the one named Mizael – spotted them and alerted the others.

And by that point it was too late. They were in range.

Matt, Katie, Leah, and Dan each raised their hands and released their glowing Duel Anchors, which extended outwards at an incredible speed and snared one of the cloaked individuals each. The exact moment they took hold, the Deltas stumbled to a halt, marvelling at the Duel Anchors, and glanced down to see who had caught who.

Matt had Durbe, Katie had the big guy, Leah had Mizael – partly because she'd tried her best to aim for him – and Dan had the mystery man.

The cloaked duelists seemed oddly at ease with being caught. Each of them were calmly examining their wrists, and experimentally flexing their fingers, all the while paying absolutely no attention to the apprehensive Deltas standing opposite them. Skyler and the Stranger kept out of sight – they didn't want to risk running out before any duels began.

Finally, Durbe allowed his arm to fall and looked up at the five kids, his pale grey eyes giving off a sense of calm authority as he stared them down. "So... children of Team Delta," he said, his voice sounding oddly distorted behind his mask. "It's good to finally meet with you properly."

"We've met most of you before," Matt replied, determined not to be intimidated by these men. "But I don't think we've ever been formerly introduced."

"Then allow me to fix that. My name is Durbe," the man said, placing a hand on his own chest, before indicating each of the others in turn. "And this is Alit, Gilag, and Mizael." The three men each nodded as their name was said. Once the introductions were finished, Mizael addressed Leah.

"It's been a while since the Arcana Caves hasn't it, young lady?" Mizael said, a note of smugness in his voice as he remembered the day. "Tell me, have you gotten over your crippling fear of dragons yet?"

"Have you gotten over your crippling fear of _me_ yet?" Leah countered. "Last time we met, you were too scared to even accept a duel from me."

Mizael bristled at this slight on his character. "Insolence wrench," he growled.

"Ha, save it for your duel Mizael," the man named Alit laughed.

James, meanwhile, was addressing Gilag. "I remember meeting you on the way out of the Dragon Sage's lair," he said. "What were you doing there?"

"Oh that?" Gilag chuckled menacingly. "Nothing. I was just tidying up a little."

Before James could ask what that meant, Durbe raised his hand to silence all the simultaneous conversations. "Enough. Words are meaningless now. You five wish to gain entrance to this building, but we will not allow that. We were tasked with recovering Professor Usur's Numbers from you, but you will not simply hand them over. Therefore, a duel is in order."

"Agreed," Matt nodded, suddenly very focussed. "How will we structure it?"

"You seem to have already decided that for yourself," Durbe pointed out, indicating the Duel Anchors still connecting them. "Each of us will duel the member of your team we're connected to by these things. One duel each. Win and you can enter. Lose and your Numbers are ours. Is that agreeable?"

"Fine by me," Matt said, and the other six duelists all gave their consent. James, however, clearly had something else to say.

"Actually," he piped up, prompting all eight duelists to look his way. "Can I make an addendum?"

"What is it?" Durbe asked.

"I want to duel as well," James said. "And you need my Numbers as well. So my question is, can I be added into Katie's duel and make it a Battle Royal instead?"

Surprised, Katie turned to face her boyfriend. "James, you don't have to do that," she said as kindly as she could. "I'm sure I can beat this guy myself."

"I know you can, but that's not the point!" James suddenly turned to face her, and now Katie could see the passion and determination burning behind his eyes, giving his face a fierce quality. "I want to prove Skyler wrong, Katie! I want to prove that I'm not useless here!"

"But Skyler won't even be watching," Dan pointed out. "And even if he was, I doubt he'd come up and apologise for being a jerk."

"I don't care," James replied. "This isn't for his benefit, it's for mine. I don't want to be the one holding everyone back in this operation. Come on Katie, let me join the duel. At the very worst I'll deal a bit of damage before getting blown away. At best, I could help you win this. What do you say?"

Katie hesitated a moment longer, grappling with herself internally, before letting out a resigned sigh. "It's your choice James," she smiled. "Just be careful. These guys work for Usur; we've got no idea how strong they are." With that, she turned back to Durbe and shouted: "It's ok with me. What about you?"

Instead of answering, Durbe turned to hulking man behind him. "Well Gilag?" he asked. "This is your duel after all."

"Go for it Gilag," Alit encouraged him. "The kid's got fire in his soul. It'd be cruel of us to deny him a chance to exercise it."

Gilag chuckled faintly. "Sure, why not?" he said, cracking his oversized knuckles. "Let's let the baby play with the grown-ups. I could've taken the girl alone, but with the boy added, it'll only hold her back. This should be _very_ fun."

Durbe nodded. "Very well, the terms are accepted."

Everything was settled. By unspoken consent, the nine duelists spread out across the streets. The building they were fighting around was square, and each duel took place on a separate side of the building, so that the cloaked men were each backed against their own wall with the Deltas facing them, which would reduce interference and distractions from the other duels. The Deltas had their equipment ready, and only had to activate their D-Gazers. Likewise, Usur's guards merely swept their cloaks aside, revealing duel disks – each one highly stylised and unique – set and ready to go. Skyler and the Stranger watched silently as the augmented reality field rose up and covered the entire building, waiting for their moment to dash...

_"AR Vision – link established."_

"DUEL!"

**Dan LP:** 4000

**Alit LP:** 4000

"DUEL!"

**Gilag LP:** 4000

**Katie LP:** 4000

**James LP:** 4000

"DUEL!"

**Leah LP:** 4000

**Mizael LP:** 4000

"DUEL!"

**Durbe LP:** 4000

**Matt LP:** 4000

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**Fun Fact #5: Four duels at once? You spoil us ambassador.**

**Fun Fact #6: So, the order we show these duels. Matt and Durbe's duel will be last, Leah and Mizael's duel will be second from last, but the other two can be in any order. All four duels are planned and ready to write, so we thought we'd leave it up to you as to which duel you want us to show first. Either by review, by PM, by Skype, or via our Chatango page, let us know whether you want to see Alit vs Dan first, or Gilag vs James vs Katie first.**

**Fun Fact #7: If James turns out to be the final boss, Skyler's going to feel pretty silly for mocking him, isn't he?**


	3. Chapter 3

**Dan LP:** 4000

**Alit LP:** 4000

"So your name is Alit?" Dan said. "You're the only one of your 'group' that I'm not even slightly familiar with. So can I ask: what're you all doing working for the Professor?"

"Eh? I thought you'd have worked that out by now," Alit replied. "Why does anyone 'work' under the Professor?"

"I don't know. You tell me."

"Because he can offer them something," Alit said. "Whether money, power, a place to stay, a better future... that old codger has something to offer everyone."

Dan nodded. "I worked out that much. So what did he offer you lot?"

Alit laughed. "You'll find out in time. Now come, let's get this duel going already. I'll even let you take the first move."

"If you insist," Dan replied. "My turn, draw! First, I Normal Summon **Polaris' Guardian Wolf**!" In a flurry of snow, a large and beautiful wolf with glistening white fur materialised in the middle of the street. It stared across at its enemy, not with hunger or the desire to kill, but with a fierce, protective air.

**Polaris' Guardian Wolf: Beast-Type/Tuner/WATER/Level 2/ATK 600/DEF 200**

"Now I activate Guardian Wolf's effect," he went on. "When this card is Normal Summoned, I can bring out any other copies of this card in my hand to join it. Appear, my second **Polaris' Guardian Wolf**!" A second snow wolf appeared alongside the first.

**Polaris' Guardian Wolf: Beast-Type/Tuner/WATER/Level 2/ATK 600/DEF 200**

"Two Level two monsters..." Alit said. "You're not wasting any time, are you?"

"Why would I?" Dan grinned, raising his hand. "Go, both Level two Guardian Wolves, Overlay!" Both monsters turned fully blue, before shooting up into the air like miniature comets. Where they had stood, a galaxy-style portal opened up. "I use these two monsters to construct the Overlay Network! Xyz Summon!" The two monsters flew into the portal together, which exploded with light and sound. "Awaken, **Number 20: Blue Firefly**!"

A glowing purple number twenty appeared on the side of Dan's neck, as out of the portal rose a cluster of massive insect eggs, joined to look like a single cohesive, yet quite disgusting unit. One of the eggs suddenly exploded, showering the concrete beneath it with slime, and revealing part of a blue exoskeleton. One by one, each of the eggs burst like bubbles, revealing more and more of the deep blue insect inside. It seemed that the cluster wasn't actually a cluster of eggs at all... it was all the same massive egg. With a great heave, the insect finally unfurled its thin, bat-like wings and let off a screech which seemed to dislodge the remainder of the smile coating its body. It had a single horn on its head, and the glowing light-blue of its body was visible beneath the darker blue of its skeleton. It was orbited by two red Overlay Units, which made for an eerie contrast.

**Number 20: Blue Firefly: Insect-Type/Xyz/FIRE/Rank 2/ATK 1500/DEF 1500 – 2 OLU**

Dan nodded with satisfaction. _'I suppose I did pick up a trick or two from my duels with Skyler,' _he thought. _'Numbers can only be destroyed by other Numbers. By Summoning Firefly, I might be able to force him to Summon his Number quicker – if he has any – which I can then focus on taking out with my stronger Numbers.'_

"Are you done?" Alit called impatiently, clearly unintimidated by the giant insect.

"Yep," Dan affirmed. "It's your move."

Alit gave a bark of laughter. "Good. Then let's really get this duel underway! My turn, draw! First off, I activate the Spell Card, Foolish Burial!" The Spell materialised before him. "With this, I can send any Monster Card from my Deck to the Graveyard. I choose Burning Knuckler Glassjaw!"

Dan's eyes widened. "A Burning Knuckler Deck?"

"That's right," Alit said, sending the card to his Graveyard. "Next, I Normal Summon Burning Knuckler Switchhitter!" A fearsome, hooded boxer appeared on Alit's side, sporting what appeared to be a spring-powered arm, as well as a metal mask that shielded its face.

Burning Knuckler Switchhitter: Warrior-Type/FIRE/Level 4/ATK 1500/DEF 1400

"I activate Switchhitter's effect!" he went on. "When this card is Normal Summoned, I can revive any Burning Knuckler monster from my Graveyard in Defence Position. Be revived, Burning Knuckler Glassjaw!" A purple resurrection ring opened up on Alit's field, and from it, a green-skinned, highly bulky boxer appeared, its arms raised in front of it in a guarding position.

Burning Knuckler Glassjaw: Warrior-Type/FIRE/Level 4/ATK 2000/DEF 0

"And now you're going to Overlay them into Leadblow, aren't you?" Dan said. Burning Knucklers were a very competitive Deck, so he'd seen them on TV enough times in the Pro Circuit to know exactly how they worked. He grinned, knowing that such knowledge would definitely give him the upper hand here.

"Don't act so sure of yourself," Alit replied confidently. "Now I Special Summon Burning Knuckler Spar!" Suddenly, in a flash of red light, a third monster appeared. This one was a heavily-armoured monster with thick red training pads fixed onto its arms.

Burning Knuckler Spar: Warrior-Type/FIRE/Level 4/ATK 1200/DEF 1400

"If I control at least one Burning Knuckler monster, this card can be Special Summoned from my hand," Alit explained. "But in exchange, I can't conduct my Battle Phase this turn."

_'Yeah, he's definitely going for Leadblow,' _Dan thought to himself. _'If he was going for a Number, he wouldn't have sacrificed his Battle Phase like that. He must be playing defensive while he waits for an opening…'_

"Here goes! Level four Burning Knuckler Switchhitter, Glassjaw, and Spar, Overlay!" The young hunter was startled out of his thoughts as Alit initiated the Xyz Summon with not two, but three monsters. As the three red energy signatures blazed upwards, a shimmering, galaxy-shaped portal appeared on Alit's field. "Stamp this onto your mind, Delta! I use these three monsters to construct the Overlay Network! Xyz Summon!" The Material Monsters chased each other down into the depths of the portal, which exploded with light. "Appear, Number 105: Burning Knuckler Cestus the Meteor!"

A light red number one-hundred-and-five flared into life above the field, as from the depths of the portal rose the Number's sealed form, which resembled a brown and yellow stone sculpture of the infinity symbol... or possibly two boxing gloves striking each other. As it unfolded, the Number hidden inside stretched itself out, revealing a mighty warrior clad in bright blue and yellow armour. It's heavily muscular arms were both bandaged up, and its face was covered by a helmet that allowed only its piercing red eyes to peer out. But the most incredible parts of the monster's attire were its shoulder pads, which extended out and down along the line of its arm, creating two wing-like shields almost as long as the warrior's arms themselves. Three bright red Overlay Units orbited it.

Number 105: Burning Knuckler Cestus the Meteor: Warrior-Type/Xyz/FIRE/Rank 4/ATK 2500/DEF 1600 – 3 OLU

Dan blanched at the sight of this monster. "What on earth...?" he breathed. "A Number that goes over a hundred? That's impossible. Have we been wrong about how many Numbers there are this whole time...?"

"We're not done yet!" Alit called, taking another card from his hand. "Brace yourself. Here comes the full power of the Barians! I activate the Spell Card, Rank-Up-Magic Barian's Force!"

"Rank-Up-what?!" Dan gasped.

The Spell appeared, releasing a surge of rainbow-hued energy across the field. The windows from the surrounding houses reflected the light straight back, until Dan was trapped in a cacophony of blinding light.

"With this card," Alit was saying, "I can Chaosify and Rank-Up an Xyz Monster I control, Special Summoning an Xyz Monster with Chaos in its name that's one Rank higher than that monster!" As Dan squinted through the light, he saw Cestus light up a dark crimson colour, before blazing upwards towards a new, darker portal that had opened in the sky above it. "I use the Rank four Cestus to reconstruct the Overlay Network! Chaos Xyz Change!" The second the warrior disappeared into the swirling depths, the portal erupted with blazing green energy. "Chaos that swallows the darkness, you will pierce through the light! Appear, Chaos Number 105: Burning Knuckler Caestus the Comet!"

The red symbol flashed above the field again, only to shatter and be replaced with a shadowy, much darker version of the number. Meanwhile, the explosion in the centre of the portal had given birth to a new warrior, one far larger and far more intimidating than Cestus had been. This one was armoured in bright purple metal with gold plates in places, and an ornate golden helmet that flared out at the back of its head like fire, simultaneously covering its face while giving it a very imposing appearance. Whereas Cestus had simply had oversized shoulder pads, affixed to Caestus' body were four purple structures with spikes on the end and flowing red energy inside them, which spread out from the monster's chest plate in the shape of a cross. Its Overlay Units only remained red orbs for a second – as the monster took its place behind Alit, the four glowing spheres stopped in front of it and changed completely, becoming gold-armoured diamond-shaped objects with the same red energy swirling inside them

Chaos Number 105: Burning Knuckler Caestus the Comet: Warrior-Type/Xyz/FIRE/Rank 5/ATK 2800/DEF 2000 – 4 OLU

Now Dan was really beginning to feel out of his depth. "What the hell is going on...?" he muttered. "Numbers that go over one-hundred, Spell Cards that can perform a Chaos Xyz Change, Ranking-Up Xyz Monsters, weird crystal Overlay Units..." He looked at Alit with wide eyes. "Just who the hell are you?"

Alit laughed. "You'll find out sooner or later," he replied. "But only once you've proven yourself worthy of my respect! And let me tell you, you won't do that by trying to cower behind defensive monsters all day! I'll smash straight through those things!"

"Not this turn you won't," Dan said, desperately trying to regain his composure. "Did you forget? You still Summoned Burning Knuckler Spar earlier this turn, so you can't attack."

"Of course I didn't forget," Alit responded. "But that's not going to stop me from getting at your Life Points!"

"What?"

By way of an answer, the cloaked duelist pointed at his Spell Card. "I apply the second effect of Barian's Force. After I Summon my new monster, I can take all the Overlay Units away from an Xyz Monster you control, and attach them to my monster!" Sure enough, both of Blue Firefly's Overlay Units suddenly broke orbit and flew across the road to Alit's side, where they morphed into the same red and gold crystals as Caestus' other Overlay Units.

**Number 20: Blue Firefly: 2 **→** 0 OLU**

Chaos Number 105: Burning Knuckler Caestus the Comet: 4 → 6 OLU

"And then, the monster I took them from loses 300 ATK for every Overlay Unit it lost this way!" The two new Overlay Units crackled with red electrical energy, which was then launched at their former host, weakening it.

**Number 20: Blue Firefly: ATK 1500 **→** 900**

"Well that's a pain," Dan said. "But it still doesn't help you attack me."

"Who said anything about attacking?" Alit retorted, raising his hand. "I'm activating Caestus' effect! Once per turn, by detaching one of its Overlay Units, I can destroy any monster you control, and then inflict damage to you equal to the ATK of your destroyed monster on the field!" One of the crystalline Overlay Units rose up in front of Caestus' face, who instantly struck out at it. Its armoured fist shattered the Unit completely, reducing it to a shower of glowing red particles, which were absorbed into the monster's chest.

Chaos Number 105: Burning Knuckler Caestus the Comet: 6 → 5 OLU

"Take this!" Alit yelled. The prongs of Caestus' wings lit up with energy, which then converged directly in front of the monster. With a passionate roar, the Chaos Number fired a red beam of energy down at the opposing Number, incinerating it before it could even make a sound, the force of the explosion lifting Dan off his feet and smashing him into the wall of a shop on the opposite side of the road. He collapsed to the pavement, clutching his shoulder and gasping for breath.

**Dan LP:** 4000 → 3100

"Hmph," Alit said. Dan got the impression that he was smirking behind that mask. "If that's all it takes to bring you down, I won't even get warmed up in this duel. I place two cards face-down and end my turn!"

* * *

Author-made cards:

Polaris' Guardian Wolf  
Beast-Type/Tuner/WATER/Level 2/ATK 600/DEF 200  
When this card is Normal Summoned: You can Special Summon up to 2 copies of "Polaris' Guardian Wolf" from your hand. Once per turn: You can target 1 face-up monster on the field; place 1 Polaris Counter on it. If this card is sent to the Graveyard for a Synchro Summon: Target 1 face-up monster your opponent controls; place Polaris Counters on it equal to the Summoned Synchro Monster's Level.

Number 20: Blue Firefly  
Insect-Type/Xyz/FIRE/Rank 2/ATK 1500/DEF 1500  
2 Level 2 monsters  
This card cannot be destroyed by battle, except by a "Number" monster. You can detach 1 Overlay Unit from this card, then target 1 face-up monster on the field; change that target's battle position.

* * *

**Fun Fact #8: As you commanded, readers, so it shall be. We'll start off with fire vs ice.**

**Fun Fact #9: Yep, this is another time that we're actively ignoring the TCG naming schemes. Most of the time we can at least stomach the TCG names, but not this time. Never this time. We ignored it for the Chaos monsters and once for the Thunder family, and now we're ignoring it again for these guys too. The Battlin' Boxers... *VOMITS SLIGHTLY* ...will be referred to as Burning Knucklers for as long as they appear in any of our written works.**

**Fun Fact #10: We'll be doing the same thing for the Holy Lightning cards once Durbe's duel comes around. Our reasoning is a little different for them, in that we actually have a valid reason beyond personal disgust. We'll explain exactly why when they appear.**

**Fun Fact #11: Just as the Numbers and Chaos Numbers are using their anime effects, so too shall all Rank-Up-Magic cards.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Dan LP:** 3100

**Alit LP:** 4000

Chaos Number 105: Burning Knuckler Caestus the Comet: Warrior-Type/Xyz/FIRE/Rank 5/ATK 2800/DEF 2000 – 5 OLU

Spell & Trap Card Zone: 2 set cards

Dan picked himself up carefully, being careful to avoid leaning on any sharp stones. He knew he was in trouble. The plan was to keep these duelists busy for as long as possible while Skyler and the Stranger snuck into the building and had a good hunt around. At the very least, Dan had been confident that _he_ would be able to stall his opponent, since his Counter-accumulation strategy was better suited for longer duels.

However, he was now beginning to see that that wasn't going to work here. Alit was not only one of the most fiery and powerful duelists he'd ever met, but he also possessed several tools that Dan couldn't even conceive of. By playing defensively, Dan had successfully lured Alit into Summoning his Number... but there was no way he could've anticipated a Number this strong.

Stalling was no longer an option, then. If he continued with the defensive plays, he wouldn't last another two turns against an opponent with such raw destructive power. No, if he was to have a chance of biding Skyler and the Stranger any time at all, he'd have to come at Alit with all his strength, with the intent to defeat him as quickly as possible. At the very least, he'd last longer that way than trying to play defensive again.

"My turn then, I draw!" Dan grimaced as he beheld his drawn card: Blizzard Dragon. Still, he had another chance at a good draw. "I activate the Spell, Card of Adversity." The card appeared on his otherwise empty field. "With this, if I control no monsters but you control at least one that was Special Summoned, I can draw two cards."

"Heh. Clutching at straws already, are you?" Alit said.

Dan ignored him and drew. A quick glance at his newly drawn cards made him grin. "Alright, that's better. First I Normal Summon **Polaris Dragon Yve**!" The dragon that appeared closely resembled a wyvern, with two wings and a sharp nose, and no front feet. Its scales were predominantly blue, with black traces outlining its body.

**Polaris Dragon Yve: Dragon-Type/WATER/Level 3/ATK 1500/DEF 300**

"Then I activate the Field Spell Card **Polaris Adventitia, the Mythic Citadel**!" A blazing white light emanated from his duel disk as the card was activated, and a cruel wind swept through the area. When the light faded, the two of them were in a totally different place. They were now standing in a colossal ice cavern, carved out the side of a mountain or glacier. It was open at both ends, held up by natural ice columns, and big enough to fit several skyscrapers inside. Along the main wall were fixed a series of platforms and plateaus, all interconnected and very sturdy, and upon which the duelists now found themselves standing. Many small caves were dotted into the wall itself, and glowing red eyes watched them from within many of them.

"A Field Spell, huh," Alit muttered.

"As long as this card is in play," Dan was explaining, "Dragon-Type monsters on the field will have their ATK and DEF increased by 200."

**Polaris Dragon Yve: ATK 1500 **→** 1700/DEF 300 **→** 500**

"It also has a few other effects," he went on, taking another card from his hand. "One of which allows me to, once per turn, discard one card from my hand to place Polaris Counters onto one monster on the field, equal to that monster's Level. I discard **Polaris Dragon Briar** to place three Counters on Yve." As he sent the card to his Graveyard, a flurry of snow surrounded the dragon, plastering three icy spheres to its body.

**Polaris Dragon Yve: 0 **→** 3 PLC**

"And now I can use the effect of the **Polaris Dragon Briar** I discarded. When it's sent to my Graveyard, I can add any Polaris card from my Deck to my hand, as long as I then send the top card of my Deck to the Graveyard. I'll add **Polaris Dragon Sapphia** to my hand." He extracted the card from his Deck, then allowed his duel disk to auto-shuffle it before milling his top card: Gamushara.

"An icy Deck with a Counter strategy," Alit said, a note of enthusiasm creeping into his voice. "Now this could be more interesting..."

"I'm not looking to entertain you," Dan replied. "Now, by removing three Polaris Counters from the field, I can Special Summon this card straight from my hand." The three icy lumps attached to Yve flared with white light, before shooting off and being absorbed into Dan's card like Overlay Units.

**Polaris Dragon Yve: 3 **→** 0 PLC**

"Come on out, **Polaris Dragon Sapphia**!" The monster that appeared this time was a simple dragon, with two hind legs and two fore legs, wings, and a tail. It was a soft blue and white colour, its scales glistening gently in the polar setting.

**Polaris Dragon Sapphia: Dragon-Type/WATER/Level 3/ATK 1700/DEF 1500**

**Polaris Dragon Sapphia: ATK 1700 **→** 1900/DEF 1500 **→** 1700**

Just then, as Dan was about to initiate his next move, he was cut off by the triumphant cry of... something. A massive creature, a dragon possibly, emanating from somewhere close by. Almost immediately after it stopped, a colossal explosion sounded from the other side of the building, accompanied by the sound of shattering glass and concrete. The ground shook beneath them, and both duelists struggled to keep their footing.

"What the hell was that?!" Dan gasped as things subsided.

"Mizael must've Summoned his dragon already," Alit said, dusting off his cloak. "Those two always did enjoy showing off."

"So whatever that thing was... Leah's out there dueling against it?"

"Yeah. And I don't envy her one bit," Alit replied. "Judging from that explosion, I reckon she just took an attack from Mizael's dragon. She'll be lucky to still be standing after that."

"Don't take her strength for granted; she's even stronger than me," Dan said.

"I should hope so," Alit retorted, a note of distain entering his voice. "So far you've shown me a whole lot of nothing as far as skill goes. Your dueling strategy is defensive and predictable, and your style is bordering on dull."

"Guess I'd better step it up then," Dan grinned. "Let's see if I can match that over-touted boxer of yours. Level three Yve and Sapphia, Overlay!" Both monsters turned fully blue and shot upwards, as a galaxy-shaped portal opened up on the wooden platform beneath them. "I use these two monsters to construct the Overlay Network! Xyz Summon!" The two Material Monsters spiralled down into the portal, which erupted with light. "Appear, **Number 68: Glacial Dragon**."

A blue number sixty-eight flared over the field and etched itself onto the back of his right hand, as out of the residue of the portal rose a massive dragon egg. It was black, white, and light-blue, and its texture was far from smooth, with a bumpy surface and regular gaps where a scaly skin was visible. With a loud crack, the egg split down the middle and began to divide, showering the field with lumps of ice. More ice shattered as the creature inside uncurled itself from the egg, and split the egg further by spreading its wings. The ground was soon littered with chunks of ice. With a final effort, the dragon finally uncurled itself completely – revealing that the egg had really been its curled-up body covered in ice – and flapped its wings once, brushing the duelists with an icy wind. The dragon had a black and white snake-like body with light blue highlights, a tail with a membrane on the end much like a fish, two long whiskers curling away from its nose – both drifting about in the icy breeze – and piercing teal eyes. The blue number sixty-eight was imprinted on its forehead, and it was orbited by two blue Overlay Units.

**Number 68: Glacial Dragon: Dragon-Type/Xyz/WATER/Rank 3/ATK 1000/DEF 1000 – 2 OLU**

**Number 68: Glacial Dragon: ATK 1000 **→** 1200/DEF 1000 **→** 1200**

"Battle!" he declared instantly. "Glacial Dragon, attack Caestus!" The dragon reared its head back and began charging an icy nova between its teeth.

"Attacking a monster with a higher ATK?" Alit said, suddenly on guard. "That's suicide unless your monster has an effect of some sort."

"That it does, Alit," Dan said. "Once per turn, during either player's turn, I can detach one of its Overlay Units to increase its ATK by the original ATK that Overlay Unit had when it was a monster." A single blue orb broke orbit and was absorbed into the jewel on the dragon's forehead.

**Number 68: Glacial Dragon: 2 **→** 1 OLU**

"The detached **Polaris Dragon Sapphia** had 1700 ATK," he went on. "So all those attack points are transferred to Glacial Dragon!"

"That's more like it!" Alit said enthusiastically. "But we're equal to that! I activate the Counter Trap Card, Xyz Block!" His face-down card triggered. "When an opponent's monster activates an effect, I can activate this card by detaching one Overlay Unit from any monster I control. Caestus has plenty to spare, so I'll take one from him." One of the Chaos Number's Units dissipated in a shower of red particles.

Chaos Number 105: Burning Knuckler Caestus the Comet: 5 → 4 OLU

"Then, this card negates that effect's activation, and destroys the monster that activated it!" Without a second's warning, the Xyz Block card fired a bright red ray of light which struck the Glacial Dragon in the neck. The dragon's attack disappeared from between its jaws, and it let out a single pained screech before exploding violently.

"Glacial Dragon!" Dan gasped, clutching his hand as he felt the familiar pain of his Number's destruction.

"That was a very low-level attack," Alit said, a note of contempt in his voice. "It's miles better than what you tried last turn, but with this kind of dueling you'll be lucky to even put a dent in my Life Points."

Dan ignored him. "I place two cards face-down and end my turn."

Alit shook his head. "I Summoned my Chaos Number on my first turn because I was excited about this duel... I'm starting to think it wasn't worth the effort. My turn, draw!"

"During each player's Standby Phase," Dan cut in, stopping Alit before he went any further. "Polaris Adventitia's other effect activates, placing one Polaris Counter on every single monster on the field." In a small flurry, a single lump of ice congealed on Caestus' chest plate.

Chaos Number 105: Burning Knuckler Caestus the Comet: 0 → 1 PLC

"Like it matters," Alit retorted, merely glancing at his drawn card before switching it to his other hand. "Battle! Go Caestus, attack his Life Points directly!" The purple-armoured warrior leapt high into the air, charging a violet surge of energy that surged around its fist.

"I activate the Trap Card, Draining Shield!" Dan responded, activating one of his face-downs. As it flared with light, a bright green dome appeared around him. "This card negates an opponent's monster's attack, and increases my Life Points by an amount equal to its ATK."

"I'll push straight through all your barriers!" Alit shouted. "Counter Trap, Accel Footwork, activate!" The cloaked man's remaining face-down card activated. "This card negates a Trap Card that activates during the Battle Phase, and destroys it!" The Trap sent out a single yellow pulse of light, which darted across the road in a zigzag pattern before striking the Draining Shield card, destroying it. As the card vanished, the green barrier protecting Dan shattered and fell away.

"A Burning Knuckler Deck combined with a Counter Trap strategy," Dan realised. "Your strategies just keep getting more and more interesting."

"It's a fiery Counter Deck versus an icy Counter Deck," Alit said. "And mine will win! Caestus, continue your attack!"

Dan gasped, remembering that he still had to do something about the attack. He couldn't stop it anymore, but he could at least soften the damage. "In a new chain, I activate the Trap Card, Call of the Haunted!" His other set card flipped up. "With it, I can revive any monster from my Graveyard in Attack Position. I choose **Polaris Dragon Briar**!" The dragon rose up out of the resurrection circle and landed on all fours in front of Dan. It was a green and blue colour, with spikey protrusions all over its body and two vestigial and withered wings on its front legs.

**Polaris Dragon Briar: Dragon-Type/WATER/Level 3/ATK 1200/DEF 1000**

**Polaris Dragon Briar: ATK 1200 **→** 1400/DEF 1000 **→** 1200**

"Hmph," Alit snorted. "I activate the other effect of Accel Footwork in my Graveyard. When you activate a Trap Card, if I control at least one Burning Knuckler monster, I can return it to my hand." He swiftly extracted the Counter Trap from his Graveyard and added it to his hand. "Now, Caestus, redirect your attack towards **Polaris Dragon Briar**!" The Chaos Number fell from out of the sky towards the icy dragon, trailing energy behind it like an actual comet. "Go! Comet Explosion!" Caestus brought its fist straight down on Briar's head, inducing a colossal eruption which ripped up yet more concrete from the roads. Despite the force of the explosion and the amount of stone shards pelting him, Dan managed to stay upright.

**Dan LP:** 3100 → 1700

"I activate Briar's effect!" Dan shouted. "When it's sent to the Graveyard, I can add another Polaris card from my Deck to my hand. This time I choose **Gathering of the Polaris**!" He added the card to his hand, then milled another card. This one turned out to be **Polaris Dragon Islingh**.

"If you're quite done," Alit called. "I activate Caestus' second effect! When this card destroys an opponent's monster by battle, you take damage equal to your monster's ATK on the field."

"What?!" Dan gasped.

"You might as well have not Summoned that dragon; you'll be taking the same damage either way! Go, Caestus!" The Chaos Number moved swiftly forward, stopping with its fist – which was still crackling with purple energy – an inch away from Dan's chest. Before he could so much as flinch, the energy exploded outwards in a shockwave that once again knocked the young hunter back, sending him sprawling onto the pavement.

**Dan LP:** 1700 → 300

"Down again!" Alit laughed. "Do I need to get a referee out here to start counting every time I knock you down? I'll end with two more face-down cards. Your move."

* * *

Author-made cards:

Polaris Dragon Yve  
Dragon-Type/WATER/Level 3/ATK 1500/DEF 300  
You can Special Summon this card (from your hand) by removing 3 Polaris Counters from the field. If this card is in your Graveyard: You can target 1 other Dragon-Type monster in your Graveyard; shuffle that target into the Deck, then return this card from the Graveyard to the hand. You can only use this effect of "Polaris Dragon Yve" once per turn.

Polaris Dragon Sapphia  
Dragon-Type/WATER/Level 3/ATK 1700/DEF 1500  
You can Special Summon this card (from your hand) by removing 3 Polaris Counters from the field. When this card destroys an opponent's monster by battle and sends it to the Graveyard: You can Special Summon 1 Level 3 or lower "Polaris" monster from your Deck.

Polaris Dragon Briar  
Dragon-Type/WATER/Level 3/ATK 1200/DEF 1000  
You can Special Summon this card (from your hand) by removing 3 Polaris Counters from the field. When this card is sent to the Graveyard: Add 1 "Polaris" card (except "Polaris Dragon Briar") from your Deck to your hand, then send the top card of your Deck to the Graveyard. You can only use this effect of "Polaris Dragon Briar" once per turn.

Number 68: Glacial Dragon  
Dragon-Type/Xyz/WATER/Rank 3/ATK 1000/DEF 1000  
2 Level 3 monsters  
This card cannot be destroyed by battle, except by a "Number" monster. Once per turn: You can target 1 face-up card on the field; negate its effects until the End Phase. Once per turn, during either player's turn: You can detach 1 Overlay Unit from this card; this card gains ATK equal to the original ATK of the detached monster until the End Phase.

Polaris Adventitia, the Mythic Citadel  
Field Spell Card  
All face-up Dragon-Type monsters gain 200 ATK and DEF. During each player's Standby Phase: Place 1 Polaris Counter on each face-up monster on the field. Once per turn: You can discard 1 card, then target 1 face-up monster on the field; place Polaris Counters on it equal to its Level. If this card would be destroyed by a card effect, you can remove 2 Polaris Counters from the field instead.

* * *

**Fun Fact #12: Well, Alit has a new punching bag.**

**Fun Fact #13: It's rare that we show a duel that's so utterly and completely one-sided, but that's because up until now, most of our duels have had duelists of approximately equal strength. This is different though. The Barian Lords really are in a league of their own compared to our characters, who have barely mastered the power of Chaos, let along Ranking-Up. The Deltas will really have to evolve their skills (rank themselves up, if you will) to stand a chance in these duels.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Dan LP:** 300

Spell & Trap Card Zone: **Polaris Adventitia, the Mythic Citadel** [Field Card]

**Alit LP:** 4000

Chaos Number 105: Burning Knuckler Caestus the Comet: Warrior-Type/Xyz/FIRE/Rank 5/ATK 2800/DEF 2000 – 4 OLU – 1 PLC

Spell & Trap Card Zone: 2 set cards

_'This is ridiculous,'_ Dan thought, stumbling back to his dueling spot. _'Every move I make is backfiring. And now I have that Accel Footwork card to worry about a second time, so Traps won't work…'_

"What's the matter?" Alit called. "You lost your nerve already?"

"In your dreams," Dan retorted. Irrespective of Alit's tremendous skill and power, he was still determined to triumph over him. "My turn, draw!"

Chaos Number 105: Burning Knuckler Caestus the Comet: 1 → 2 PLC

"I activate the Spell Card, Upstart Goblin! With it, I can draw an additional card, but you gain 1000 Life Points in exchange." He drew his additional card, and watched as a gentle yellow light suffused Alit.

**Alit LP:** 4000 → 5000

"Ha! Looks like you're getting desperate now," Alit laughed.

Dan ignored him. He was too focussed on his newly drawn card, which – while risky – had suddenly opened up another option to him. "Alright, first I Summon Blizzard Dragon!" A predominantly blue dragon appeared in a flurry of ice and snow.

Blizzard Dragon: Dragon-Type/WATER/Level 4/ATK 1800/DEF 1000

Blizzard Dragon: ATK 1800 → 2000/DEF 1000 → 1200

"Then I activate the Spell Card, Blizzard Vision!" The Spell materialised just behind Blizzard Dragon. "By targeting one WATER Attribute monster I control, this card will Special Summon itself as a monster with the same Type, Attribute, and Level as that target, but with no ATK or DEF." The Spell Card let loose a whirlwind of ice and snow, which reformed itself into the likeness of the dragon alongside it, but with a slightly whiter tint.

Blizzard Vision: Dragon-Type/WATER/Level 4/ATK 0/DEF 0

Blizzard Vision: ATK 0 → 200/DEF 0 → 200

Alit's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Two Level four monsters..."

"Here goes! Level four Blizzard Dragon and Blizzard Vision, Overlay!" Both the dragon and its doppelganger turned fully blue, then blazed up into the sky, away from the galaxy portal that opened beneath them. "I use these two monsters to construct the Overlay Network! Xyz Summon!" Both Material Monsters spiralled down into the portal, which exploded violently, producing a cloud of steam that rose from the portal like the mushroom cloud from a nuclear explosion. "Appear! **Number 55: Vapour Freeze**!"

A deep purple number fifty-five etched itself onto the right-hand side of Dan's neck. With the sound of rushing wind, the cloud of steam rising out of the portal was sucked back down to earth, swirling around a colossal spherical chunk of ice. The sphere then began to vibrate violently, to the point where it looked like it was about to shatter. The steam was pulled even more thickly around the ice, enshrouding it, almost completely obscuring it from the world... suddenly, two piercing yellow eyes opened within the swirling steam, and looked around at the field, shining clearly through the cloud of steam. Two blue Overlay Units drifted around it, riding on the vapour currents that still encircled the frozen monster.

**Number 55: Vapour Freeze: Pyro-Type/Xyz/WATER/Rank 4/ATK 2100/DEF 1200 – 2 OLU**

"Well, at least you're trying," Alit observed. "But it's still weak. You can't match Caestus with that!"

"Maybe not," Dan replied, cracking a grin. "But what about with this?" As if on cue, the eyes on the front of the ice cube closed, becoming practically invisible behind the wall of steam. Beneath the Number, yet another galaxy-shaped portal opened up on the wooden platform.

"Wait a minute..." Alit said, staring at the portal. "It can't be..."

"I'm honestly not sure what's going to happen next," Dan grinned. "I have no idea if this'll work or not. Still, might as well give it a shot! I use **Number 55: Vapour Freeze** to reconstruct the Overlay Network! Chaos Xyz Change!" The Number descended into the portal once more, producing an eruption of light particles. "Appear! **Chaos Number 55: Vapour Freeze Volt**!"

The deep purple colour of the fifty-fifth symbol on his neck flared white, then darkened. Now it was shadowy, pulsating, and seemed to be tinged with a tiny amount of yellow. As the sky outside the icy cavern began to darken and rumble, the residue from the portal cleared, and a bolt of electricity blazed through the cave entrance. From out of the portal, a frozen cube rose up to meet it. The lightning bolt struck the cube of ice, shattering it with an explosive retort. The ice was vaporized from the intense energy of the lightning... no, almost all of it. The strike seemed to strip away the excess ice, leaving only a figure suspended in the air between the duelists – over fifteen feet tall, humanoid in shape, and constructed completely from smooth ice. The new monster let out a roar of joy at the sheer power it had gained - the roar sounded like a cacophonic symphony of embers burning, ice splitting, and static crackling in a deep orchestra of sound. The clouds of steam surrounding it now crackled with static power as the piercing yellow eyes stared out at the field, brighter than ever before. Three bright blue Overlay Units circled it, serene as ever.

**Chaos Number 55: Vapour Freeze Volt: Pyro-Type/Xyz/WATER/Rank 4/ATK 2100/DEF 1200 – 3 OLU**

**Chaos Number 55: Vapour Freeze Volt: Pyro-Type **→** Pyro-Type/Thunder-Type **

"Impossible!" Alit gasped, taking a step back. "You're just human children! Lithon I could understand, but how can you initiate a Chaos Xyz Change without a Rank-Up-Magic card?"

"Looks like you're not as well-informed as I thought," Dan grinned. "I got this Chaos Number from Lithon's subordinate, a kid named Kodoku. It was a tough fight, but Leah and I took it down with our own Chaos Numbers."

"You mean that isn't even your own Chaos Number? You have more?!"

"That's right," Dan nodded. "And so do Matt and Katie and Leah. So don't belittle us! I've never heard of a Ranked-Up Chaos Number before, but a Chaos Number is still a Chaos Number. And I can beat Chaos Numbers!"

"Interesting," Alit replied, and judging from the tone of his voice, Dan got the distinct impression that he was grinning behind that mask. "Very interesting. Maybe you're not quite the pushover I took you for."

"Thank you."

"You still haven't earned my respect though," Alit added. "Your monster is a regular Chaos Number, whereas mine is not only a Chaos Number, but was also Ranked-Up, giving it powers far beyond normal Chaos Numbers. You'll have to try a lot harder than that if you want me to break a sweat here."

"Well then," Dan grinned. "Guess I'd better get started. I activate Vapour Freeze Volt's effect! By detaching one of its Overlay Units, I can apply any one of its three effects. I choose the third effect." The elemental master drew one of its Overlay Units out of orbit and absorbed it into its body.

**Chaos Number 55: Vapour Freeze Volt: 3 **→** 2 OLU**

"With this effect, one targeted monster on the field will gain 1500 ATK, but will be banished during the End Phase. I'll have it target itself!" The monster's eyes flashed with a blinding light, and it coated itself in an aura of crackling yellow lightning.

**Chaos Number 55: Vapour Freeze Volt: ATK 2100 **→** 3600**

"An ATK of 3600?" Alit muttered. "So you found the power to take out Caestus after all."

"I can do more than that," Dan went on. "I activate Vapour Freeze Volt's effect again, detaching another Overlay Unit to reactivate its third effect!" As the Chaos Number absorbed its second Overlay Unit, the crackling aura around it intensified.

**Chaos Number 55: Vapour Freeze Volt: 2 **→** 1 OLU**

**Chaos Number 55: Vapour Freeze Volt: ATK 3600 **→** 5100**

"One more time! I'll squeeze out every last drop of my monsters' power and use it all to defeat you! I detach the third Overlay Unit to increase its ATK even further!" The icy monster roared with joy as its power increased to staggering levels.

**Chaos Number 55: Vapour Freeze Volt: 1 **→** 0 OLU**

**Chaos Number 55: Vapour Freeze Volt: ATK 5100 **→** 6600**

"6600 ATK..." Alit breathed.

"Go, Vapour Freeze Volt! Attack Caestus!" Dan commanded. The Chaos Number, revelling in the new heights of its incredible power, obediently pointed at Alit's monster. Out of nowhere, a hurricane of electrified steam clouds, coupled with the blaze of a raging inferno, consumed it beneath the power of the elements. Alit was knocked back by the force of the attack, smashing into the wall of the cave that had replaced the wall of Usur's building, before collapsing onto the platform beneath it.

**Alit LP:** 5000 → 1200

"How's that, Alit?" Dan called. "Still think I'm a pushover?"

His opponent said nothing immediately. As the residue of the attack cleared, Dan saw Alit standing up slowly. He looked like he had taken a pretty hard knock, as he was holding his shoulder awkwardly, and took his time getting to his feet. He was also staring at Dan with the most intense expression he'd ever seen.

"No..." came the quiet reply. The contempt had been wiped from his voice, and replaced by a tone of barely-contained excitement. "Your power is greater than I imagined. Your dueling style is very different from mine, but it is no less effective – I shouldn't have mocked you for it. But now... now that I can see what you're capable of... I think it's time I stopped playing around!" His hand moved away from his shoulder to the front of his cloak. "Let me show you... the true me!" In one smooth movement, he undid the clasp on his cloak and tugged it aside, allowing it to fall away.

Dan gasped.

Alit's body was unlike anything he's ever seen. His skin, for a start, was a bright scarlet colour, aside from his face which was a darker crimson. He was thin but lean, his red skin stretched over well-defined muscles. In place of clothes, affixed to his body were what looked like pieces of gold or mauve armour plating, which made him appear like he was wearing boots and a jacket of sorts... then again, it was impossible to tell. The plates were attached to him so seamlessly that they could easily have been a part of his body. The same was true of that mask, a mauve piece of what looked like metal that covered most of his face, leaving gaps for his piercing yellow eyes to stare through. Dan simply couldn't comprehend what he was seeing. 'Alien' was the first thing that popped into his head. The basic shape was still human, but the rest of him was about as far from human as was conceivably possible.

"Alit..." Dan breathed. "What... what happened to you? What is all-" The a thought occurred to him. "Wait, did the Professor do that to you? That snake! I'll kill-"

Alit laughed boisterously. "Don't be stupid! That old geezer would never experiment on me. This is me, Dan. This is my real body; the one I was born with."

"T- that can't be..." Dan couldn't register what he was hearing. "Then what are you?"

"I'm a Barian," Alit replied.

"No... just, no," Dan said, shaking his head. "Barian's are supposed to look like... well... me. Like us. How did you end up looking like that?"

Alit shook his head slowly. "You'll understand everything soon," he said.

"For goodness sake," Dan muttered. "Would it kill people to just explain everything to us now rather than later?"

The red-skinned duelist chuckled. Then, all of a sudden, he pointed a single finger at one of his set cards. "I activate the Quick-Play Spell Card, Xyz Stand-Up!"

"What?" Dan gasped, as the Spell on Alit's field triggered, producing a purple resurrection ring.

"With this card, if an Xyz Monster I control is destroyed by battle, I can instantly revive that monster with its effects negated," Alit said. "Be revived! Chaos Number 105: Burning Knuckler Caestus the Comet!" The pulsating number one-hundred-and-five flared across the field between them, and from out of the portal, the purple-armoured Chaos Number took to the field once again, now devoid of Overlay Units.

Chaos Number 105: Burning Knuckler Caestus the Comet: Warrior-Type/Xyz/FIRE/Rank 5/ATK 2800/DEF 2000 – 0 OLU

Dan gritted his teeth. "Well, this isn't good," he muttered. "Vapour Freeze Volt will be banished during the End Phase... if I end my turn with an empty field now, Caestus will attack me and I'll lose. It's a waste of such a powerful searcher, but I have no choice now – I have to defend myself. I activate the Spell Card, **Gathering of the Polaris**!" The Spell materialised on his field. "By banishing two WATER monsters from my Graveyard, I can add two Polaris cards from my Deck to my hand. I banish both copies of **Polaris' Guardian Wolf** from my Graveyard to add **Polaris Dragon Sona** and **Legacy of the Polaris** to my hand."

"I see," Alit nodded, as Dan banished and searched his cards. "Both your Guardian Wolves were attached to Caestus by Barian's Force, but when you destroyed it, they went to the Graveyard. That means you get to keep the important WATER monsters in your Graveyard by banishing those Wolves."

"I activate the effect of **Polaris Dragon Yve** in my Graveyard," Dan went on. "By shuffling a Dragon-Type monster from my Graveyard into my Deck, I can return this card to my hand. I return **Polaris Dragon Sapphia** to my Deck." He extracted two cards from his Graveyard, shuffled one into his Deck, and moved the other to his hand. "Then I activate the Spell Card, **Legacy of the Polaris**! By sending Yve from my hand back to the Graveyard, this card places three Polaris Counters on Caestus!" Three orbs of ice once again attached themselves to the warrior's chest plate.

Chaos Number 105: Burning Knuckler Caestus the Comet: 0 → 3 PLC

"Last but not least," Dan said, taking the last card from his hand to play, "I remove those three Polaris Counters to Special Summon **Polaris Dragon Sona** from my hand!" The spheres of ice detached themselves from Caestus and were absorbed into the card, which Dan placed on his duel disk. In response, a small black dragon appeared, with the horns of a mountain goat jutting out of its head.

Chaos Number 105: Burning Knuckler Caestus the Comet: 3 → 0 PLC

**Polaris Dragon Sona: Dragon-Type/Tuner/WATER/Level 3/ATK 800/****DEF 900**

**Polaris Dragon Sona: ATK 800 **→** 1000/DEF 900 **→** 1100**

"There we go," Dan said, breathing a sigh of relief. "Now I have some defence. I end my turn there. And during the End Phase, Vapour Freeze Volt banishes itself." The electrical aura still surrounding the Chaos Number began to destabilize, causing Vapour Freeze Volt to panic as it was burned and electrocuted so intensely that not even its molecules escaped incineration. The intense energy quickly wiped out the monster, leaving nothing behind but faint eddies of steam, which were quickly swept aside by the polar breeze.

"Alright," Alit said, his voice filled with fierce anticipation. "A single little dragon that can't be destroyed by battle once per turn. Let's see how long it takes me to break down this wall! My turn, draw!"

* * *

Author-made cards:

Polaris Dragon Sona  
Dragon-Type/Tuner/WATER/Level 3/ATK 800/DEF 900  
You can Special Summon this card (from your hand) by removing 3 Polaris Counters from the field. Once per turn, this card cannot be destroyed by a battle.

Number 55: Vapour Freeze (credit to Superjad)  
Pyro-Type/Xyz/WATER/Rank 4/ATK 2100/DEF 1200  
2 Level 4 monsters  
This card cannot be destroyed by battle, except by a "Number" monster. Once per turn: You can detach 1 Overlay Unit from this card, then target 1 face-up monster on the field; apply 1 of these effects. ●Switch its current ATK and DEF. ●Halve its DEF.

Chaos Number 55: Vapour Freeze Volt (credit to Superjad)  
Pyro-Type/Xyz/WATER/Rank 4/ATK 2100/DEF 1200  
3 Level 4 monsters with different Attributes OR 1 "Number 55: Vapour Freeze"  
This card cannot be destroyed by battle, except by a "Number" monster. If you have 1000 or more Life Points, destroy this card. This card is also treated as a Thunder-Type monster. You can detach 1 Overlay Unit from this card, then target 1 face-up monster on the field; apply 1 of these effects. ●Switch its current ATK and DEF. ●Reduce its DEF to 0. ●It gains 1500 ATK, but it is banished during the End Phase.

Polaris Adventitia, the Mythic Citadel  
Field Spell Card  
All face-up Dragon-Type monsters gain 200 ATK and DEF. During each player's Standby Phase: Place 1 Polaris Counter on each face-up monster on the field. Once per turn: You can discard 1 card, then target 1 face-up monster on the field; place Polaris Counters on it equal to its Level. If this card would be destroyed by a card effect, you can remove 2 Polaris Counters from the field instead.

Gathering of the Polaris  
Spell Card  
Banish 2 WATER monsters from your Graveyard; add 2 "Polaris" cards (except "Gathering of the Polaris") from your Deck to your hand. You can only activate 1 "Gathering of the Polaris" per turn.

Legacy of the Polaris  
Quick-Play Spell Card  
Activate 1 of these effects. ●Remove any number of Polaris Counters from the field; add 1 "Polaris" card from your Deck to your hand for every 3 counters removed. ●Discard any number of "Polaris" cards; distribute 3 times that amount of Polaris Counters among face-up monsters.

* * *

**Fun Fact #14: Yep, that was an entire Chapter of 3000+ words devoted to a single turn of a single duel. Welcome to Yu-Gi-Oh!.**

**Fun Fact #15: "Would it kill people to just explain everything to us now rather than later?" – That's Dan saying what basically the entire audience is thinking about this fic, I'll bet.**

**Fun Fact #16: Just to clarify, we won't be switching over to the new OCG rulings about first turn drawing and Field Spells just yet. This is the ZEXAL universe, so for now at least, we'll be sticking to their rules. That doesn't mean we've ruled out Pendulum Summoning in our fics, it just means we won't be using them yet. Our plans for the final duels are already essentially set in stone - we're not uprooting them entirely just because of some new mechanics.  
**


	6. Chapter 6

**Dan LP:** 300

**Polaris Dragon Sona: Dragon-Type/Tuner/WATER/Level 3/ATK 1000/DEF 1100**

Spell & Trap Card Zone: **Polaris Adventitia, the Mythic Citadel** [Field Card]

**Alit LP:** 1200

Chaos Number 105: Burning Knuckler Caestus the Comet: Warrior-Type/Xyz/FIRE/Rank 5/ATK 2800/DEF 2000 – 0 OLU

Spell & Trap Card Zone: 1 set card

"Due to the effect of Polaris Adventitia," Dan called, stopping Alit as he drew, "a Polaris Counter is placed on every monster on the field during each Standby Phase."

Chaos Number 105: Burning Knuckler Caestus the Comet: 0 → 1 PLC

Disregarding this, Alit turned over the card he'd drawn... and his eyes widened with glee. "I activate the Spell Card, Blasting Vein!" he said, slapping the card onto his duel disk. "With it, I can destroy one face-down Spell or Trap Card I control in order to draw two cards." Alit's face-down Accel Footwork card dissipated as he drew his cards. "Now I activate the Spell Card, Burning-Knuckle Spirits! This lets me revive any Burning Knuckler monster from my Graveyard in Defence Position by sending the top card of my Deck to the Graveyard. Come on out, Burning Knuckler Glassjaw!" Alit milled his top card - The Warrior Returning Alive - and as he did, a purple resurrection ring opened up on his field. From it, the muscular, green-skinned monster leapt back into play.

Burning Knuckler Glassjaw: Warrior-Type/FIRE/Level 4/ATK 2000/DEF 0

"Then, I Normal Summon Burning Knuckler Shadow!" A black-skinned boxer appeared next to the green one, with a pale blue scarf wrapped around its neck, and piercing blue eyes peering out from under its helmet.

Burning Knuckler Shadow: Warrior-Type/FIRE/Level 4/ATK 1800/DEF 1400

"So Dan, you could barely handle one Number," Alit said. "How do you think you'll manage two?"

"A second Number?" Dan grinned. "I should've known. Go ahead, let's see it then."

Alit laughed. "Your funeral. Go, Level four Shadow and Glassjaw, Overlay!" Both boxers morphed into amorphous red masses of energy, which shot upwards, clearing the way for yet another galaxy-shaped portal to open beneath them. "I use these two monsters to construct the Overlay Network! Xyz Summon!" The little red comets spiralled down into the portal, which exploded with all the light and force of a miniature supernova. "Appear, Number 79: Burning Knuckler Kaiser the Nova!"

A pale yellow number seventy-nine flared into life above the field, as the explosion's residue gave birth to a new warrior, shining bright in the dark cave and baring its heavily-armoured fists menacingly. It was a pale skinned monster with bandaged arms, and was wearing a suit of red and gold armour that looked so bulky, it was surprising the monster could lift it at all. Like Cestus before it, it had huge plates of armour built upon its shoulder pads that spayed out behind it like wings. It also had a beautifully carved helmet that made it look like the warrior was wearing a crown of some sort, every bit as ornate and intricate as Caestus'. Two bright red Overlay Units encircled it.

Number 79: Burning Knuckler Kaiser the Nova: Warrior-Type/Xyz/FIRE/Rank 4/ATK 2300/DEF 1600 – 2 OLU

Upon seeing this, Dan was just as shocked as he had been when he'd seen Number 105 for the first time. It couldn't be, it simply couldn't... and yet here it was. Number 79, staring straight at him. Only yesterday, they'd all seen Skyler use **Number 79: Mach Transer** against Keane and Esta. How could Alit have a Number 79 as well? Had the Stranger been wrong again? Were there really duplicates of each Number that could take on different forms? And if so, what did that mean for them? There could be millions of Numbers out there.

Then, quite suddenly, it hit him. The Stranger had told them that the Kasen World, the one in danger from Usur's plan, had its own set of Numbers. If that was true, then this new Number 79 was probably from that other world. In which case, Alit could well be as well. That could well explain his appearance – they never saw another person up close while they were in that world, so maybe that's just what people looked like there.

_'No…' _Dan thought, shaking his head. _'That can't be right. Why would Alit have lied and said he was a Barian? What would be the point in lying about that? And even if he is from that world, why would he be working for the Professor when the Professor's trying to destroy that world?'_

Dan massaged his temple. First Numbers that went over a hundred, then Spell Cards that could create Chaos Numbers, then Ranking-Up, then Alit's strange body... and now this? He wasn't sure how much more of this Duel he could take.

"Due to Kaiser's effect!" Alit declared, snapping him back to reality, "it gains 100 ATK for every Overlay Unit attached to it."

Number 79: Burning Knuckler Kaiser the Nova: ATK 2300 → 2500

"Now I activate another of its effects," he went on. "Once per turn, I can take any Burning Knuckler monster from my hand or Graveyard and attach it to Kaiser the Nova. I'll attach Burning Knuckler Spar from my Graveyard!" A single red orb of light flew out of his Graveyard and settled into orbit around the Number.

Number 79: Burning Knuckler Kaiser the Nova: 2 → 3 OLU

"Which, of course, increases my monster's ATK further since it has a new Overlay Unit."

Number 79: Burning Knuckler Kaiser the Nova: ATK 2500 → 2600

"Battle!" Alit shouted. "Kaiser the Nova, attack Sona!" The warrior instantly charged towards the small dragon and brought its fist down, its knuckles crackling with white hot energy. Sona folded its tiny wings around itself protectively, and Kaiser's blazing fist smashed into them, before rebounding as though thet were made of metal.

"Sona can protect itself from being destroyed by battle once per turn," Dan told him, albeit unnecessarily.

"I know," Alit replied. "I need to hit it twice in a turn to destroy it. Go, Caestus the Comet! Get rid of it!" As the first Number retreated, Caestus leapt up high, then fell back to earth, its own fist trailing energy. The little dragon tried to cower behind its wings again, but its effect had been used already, and Caestus was able to smash straight through the defence and annihilate the dragon.

"I activate the effect of **Polaris Dragon Islingh** in my Graveyard!" Dan declared. "I sent it there earlier with Briar's effect. And while it's there, if ever a WATER Dragon-Type monster I control is destroyed, this card can revive in its place!" A thin white dragon reappeared in place of the destroyed monster, forcing Caestus back. It was skinny to the point of skeletal, and had horns resembling those of a mountain goat on its head.

**Polaris Dragon Islingh: Dragon-Type/WATER/Level 3/ATK 1000/DEF 300**

**Polaris Dragon Islingh: ATK 1000 **→ **1200/DEF 300** → **500**

"Phew," Dan breathed. "Caestus' effect was negated by Xyz Stand-Up, so it can't deal damage to me this time. I guess I survived that turn."

"Ha!" Alit laughed as his Over-Hundred Number returned to him. "That was just a stall tactic. Your hand is empty, and all you have left to play with is a Field Spell and another weakling dragon. You're backed up against the ropes here, Delta – I'll be interested to see if you can make a comeback from this. I end my turn."

"Alright then, here goes..." Dan placed his hand on top of his Deck for what, one way or another, would probably be his last draw. "My turn, draw!" Tentatively, he turned the card over to look at it.

Xyz Treasure...

Perfect.

"You ready for this, Alit?" Dan called. "First, the effect of Polaris Adventitia places one Polaris Counter on every monster on the field."

**Polaris Dragon Islingh: 0 **→ **1 PLC**

Chaos Number 105: Burning Knuckler Caestus the Comet: 1 → 2 PLC

Number 79: Burning Knuckler Kaiser the Nova: 0 → 1 PLC

"Then I use the effect of **Polaris Dragon Yve** in my Graveyard. By returning Glacial Dragon to my Extra Deck, this card returns to my hand." He placed his Number back in the Extra Deck container before adding Yve to his hand for the third time that duel. "Next, I Normal Summon **Polaris Dragon Yve**!" The blue-scaled wyvern took to the field again.

**Polaris Dragon Yve: Dragon-Type/WATER/Level 3/ATK 1500/DEF 300**

**Polaris Dragon Yve: ATK 1500 **→ **1700/DEF 300** → **500**

"Two Level three monsters, and your Number back in your Extra Deck," Alit said. "Sure, bring it out to play a second time. Let's see if it fares any better this time around!"

"Level three Yve and Islingh, Overlay!" The two Material Monsters turned fully blue, then darted out of the way as, for the fifth time that duel, a Number's portal opened up on Dan's field. "I use these two monsters to construct the Overlay Network! Xyz Summon!" The monsters sailed into the portal, which exploded with light. "Come on out one more time! **Number 68: Glacial Dragon**!" The dragon's sealed form rose out of the portal, and promptly shattered, releasing the icy dragon back onto the field, where it let out a bugle of joy.

**Number 68: Glacial Dragon: Dragon-Type/Xyz/WATER/Rank 3/ATK 1000/DEF 1000 – 2 OLU**

**Number 68: Glacial Dragon: ATK 1000 **→ **1200/DEF 1000** → **1200**

"And now, let me show you my Number's true form!" As he said this, Glacial Dragon brought its tail up close to its body, and folded its wings around it, curling itself into a tight ball. With a series of flashes, chunks of ice began to reappear on the dragon's scales, until it was once again encased within an icy egg. A galaxy-shaped portal opened up on the ice beneath it. "I use **Number 68: Glacial Dragon** to reconstruct the Overlay Network!" Dan declared. "Chaos Xyz Change!" The frozen dragon egg sank into the depths of the portal, which exploded with light and wind, whipping up a mighty blizzard. "Arise, **Chaos Number 68: Glacial Draconian**!"

The blue number sixty-eight on his hand dissipated, only to be replaced moments later by a pulsating, shadowy version of the same symbol. From out of the portal rose a white dragon's egg, far larger than the one that had entered, and covered with a layer of smooth, unbroken ice. No sooner had the sealed form exited the portal when a giant crack split the egg in two, and the form of a massive serpentine dragon forced its way free of the shell, as though determined to get out in the open as quickly as possible. The dragon now had a total of four colossal wings – two on each side – was predominantly white in colour, in as opposed to the black and white contrast its previous form had shown. Additionally, its scales seemed to have taken on a different quality than before. Rather than being pure white, they were now suffused with a sharp blue hue that seemed to be coming from deep inside the dragon's body. It was like looking at the sky through a thick layer of ice. Its whiskers were also longer, and its once-teal eyes had taken on a more aquatic shade. Three blue Overlay Units circled it, casting strange reflections against the dragon's sublime body.

**Chaos Number 68: Glacial Draconian: Dragon-Type/Xyz/WATER/Level 3/ATK 1000/DEF 1000 – 3 OLU**

**Chaos Number 68: Glacial Draconian: ATK 1000 **→ **1200/DEF 1000** → **1200**

"You weren't kidding..." Alit said, looking at the dragon in awe. "You really do have another Chaos Number. This is incredible!"

"You haven't seen incredible yet," Dan grinned. "When Glacial Draconian is Xyz Summoned, the effects of all cards on the field other than itself are negated!" The dragon let out a screech and spread its wings out wide. Its scales flared a brilliant white colour, and a pulse of pure energy was sent out in a dome shape, brushing past both of Alit's fierce boxers, coating them with a dusting of ice.

**Chaos Number 68: Glacial Draconian: ATK 1200 **→ **1000/DEF 1200** → **1000**

Number 79: Burning Knuckler Kaiser the Nova: ATK 2600 → 2300

"Now I activate the Spell Card, Xyz Treasure," Dan called, placing the card onto his duel disk. "With this, I can draw one card for every Xyz Monster on the field. There are three, so I draw three cards!" He swiftly drew his cards, then placed them in his hand with barely a glance at them. "And finally, I'll use Glacial Draconian's effect! By detaching one of its Overlay Units and discarding one card, I can increase its ATK by the difference in our Life Points, until the End Phase." He sent one of his drawn cards – Mystical Refpanel – to his Graveyard, just as his Chaos Number absorbed one of its blue orbs into the jewel on its forehead. "My Life Points are 300, while yours are 1200. That's a 900 difference!" Rather than white, Glacial Draconian's scales flared with a fantastic sky-blue colour as its strength increased.

**Chaos Number 68: Glacial Draconian: 3 **→** 2 OLU**

**Chaos Number 68: Glacial Draconian: ATK 1000 **→** 1900**

Alit's eyes widened. "It can't be..."

"I activate the effect again!" As Dan watched his Chaos Number prepare to absorb another Overlay Unit out of the air, his mind briefly turned to Skyler and the Stranger. _'I really hope you've found what you were looking for, guys,' _he thought to himself, discarding Snowdust Dragon.

**Chaos Number 68: Glacial Draconian: 2 **→** 1 OLU**

_'This is all the time I can manage you… I can't drag this duel out any longer. I soaked up the damage for as long as I could, but now that I found an opening, I have to take it, or else I'll be putting our Numbers in danger.'_

**Chaos Number 68: Glacial Draconian: ATK 1900 **→** 2800**

_'Sorry guys…' _With that final thought, he threw the last card in his hand – Ice Mirror – into his Graveyard and raised his own hand high. "One more time! I activate Glacial Draconian's effect, increasing its ATK again." The dragon assimilated its last remaining Overlay Unit.

**Chaos Number 68: Glacial Draconian: 1 **→** 0 OLU**

**Chaos Number 68: Glacial Draconian: ATK 2800 **→** 3700**

"Battle!" he declared, bringing his hand down to point at Alit. "Glacial Draconian, attack Kaiser the Nova!" The Chaos Number pulled back its head, then released a beam of pure white energy that crossed the field at a fantastic speed and struck Kaiser straight in the middle of the chest. The otherworldly Number barely had time to cry out in pain before it was blasted apart by the explosion. Said explosion blew Alit back and smashed him into the cave wall, where he collapsed down to his knees, then keeled over sideways.

**Dan LP:** 300 [WINNER]

**Alit LP:** 1200 → 0

A claxon rang out, signalling the end of the duel. The augmented reality faded around them, taking both remaining Chaos Numbers with it, and returning them to the street they'd started in, with only the torn-up roads and the cracks in the walls of the surrounding buildings where the two duelists had been thrown into them repeatedly to remind them of the chaotic experience they had just been through.

Dan was nearly spent, but acting purely on instinct, he raised his hand and pointed it at his downed opponent so that the band could work its magic.

Nothing happened.

Surprised, Dan glanced at the metal contraption, checking it for damage. It seemed to be in good working order – well, it must be, since it was still protecting him from his own Numbers. But no matter how many times he pointed it at Alit, it still refused to activate.

"You won't take my Numbers that way..." Alit muttered, pushing himself up into a kneeling position.

Dan lowered his hand. "Why not?"

"These Numbers are from another place... another world. Your bands were created to extract the Numbers from this world, which are very different from my ones."

_'So those Numbers are from another world!' _Dan thought, realising he had been right after all. Alit's Numbers – or at the very least, Number 79 – came from another world. Possibly even the Kasen World, given what the Stranger had told them yesterday. That was one mystery solved, at least. But it still left so many...

"Alit..." Dan said quietly.

"Hmm?"

"Who are you?"

Alit laughed softly, then stood up to face the young Delta, clutching his shoulder. "I told you, you'll find out soon. Very soon now..." All of a sudden, a portal opened up behind him, and Alit's body seemed to break apart. It was the strangest thing. One moment he was standing there, solid as anything. The next, he had dissolved into a cluster of light particles that swirled into the swirling portal. Dan's eyes widened in shock, and he was about to cry out to Alit... but before he could the portal closed, leaving him standing alone in the street.

* * *

Author-made cards:

Polaris Dragon Sona  
Dragon-Type/Tuner/WATER/Level 3/ATK 800/DEF 900  
You can Special Summon this card (from your hand) by removing 3 Polaris Counters from the field. Once per turn, this card cannot be destroyed by a battle.

Polaris Dragon Islingh  
Dragon-Type/WATER/Level 3/ATK 1000/DEF 300  
You can Special Summon this card (from your hand) by removing 3 Polaris Counters from the field. When a face-up WATER Dragon-Type monster (except "Polaris Dragon Islingh") you control is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard while this card is in your Graveyard: You can Special Summon this card from your Graveyard.

Polaris Dragon Yve  
Dragon-Type/WATER/Level 3/ATK 1500/DEF 300  
You can Special Summon this card (from your hand) by removing 3 Polaris Counters from the field. If this card is in your Graveyard: You can target 1 other Dragon-Type monster in your Graveyard; shuffle that target into the Deck, then return this card from the Graveyard to the hand. You can only use this effect of "Polaris Dragon Yve" once per turn.

Number 68: Glacial Dragon  
Dragon-Type/Xyz/WATER/Rank 3/ATK 1000/DEF 1000  
2 Level 3 monsters  
This card cannot be destroyed by battle, except by a "Number" monster. Once per turn: You can target 1 face-up card on the field; negate its effects until the End Phase. Once per turn, during either player's turn: You can detach 1 Overlay Unit from this card; this card gains ATK equal to the original ATK of the detached monster until the End Phase.

Chaos Number 68: Glacial Draconian  
Dragon-Type/Xyz/WATER/Rank 3/ATK 1000/DEF 1000  
3 Level 3 WATER monsters OR 1 "Number 68: Glacial Dragon"  
This card cannot be destroyed by battle, except by a "Number" monster. If you have 1000 or more Life Points, destroy this card. When this card is Xyz Summoned: Negate the effects of all other face-up cards currently on the field. During either player's turn: You can detach 1 Overlay Unit from this card and discard 1 card; this card gains ATK equal to the difference between each player's Life Points until the End Phase.

Polaris Adventitia, the Mythic Citadel  
Field Spell Card  
All face-up Dragon-Type monsters gain 200 ATK and DEF. During each player's Standby Phase: Place 1 Polaris Counter on each face-up monster on the field. Once per turn: You can discard 1 card, then target 1 face-up monster on the field; place Polaris Counters on it equal to its Level. If this card would be destroyed by a card effect, you can remove 2 Polaris Counters from the field instead.

* * *

**Fun Fact #17: And just when poor Dan thought things couldn't get any weirder... I'll be he's fed up of being shocked by this point.**

**Fun Fact #18: Now that that duel's done, Gilag vs Katie vs James will be next. Expect that duel to be a bit longer than this one, due to the increased number of duelists and madness.**

**Fun Fact #19: With Alit's last Xyz Summon, our original plan was to have him Summon Leadblow to help destroy Sona. That plan was perfectly functional, but it didn't feel particularly special. We toyed with the idea of using Rhapsody in Berserk instead when it came out, but then Alit wouldn't actually be able to destroy Sona since Rhapsody has 0 ATK. But when Kaiser the Nova came out, even though Alit's never been shown to have it in the anime, we thought "Screw it! It's never going to appear in the anime now, and the Barian's have been shown to possess other Numbers besides their Over-Hundreds, so why not? It's cooler than Leadblow anyway!"**

**Fun Fact #20: Was anyone else annoyed by the way Yuma's Deck would randomly alter to match specific opponent's? Not beat, mind you. Match. Like how he suddenly had a whole bunch of Counter Traps when facing Alit, which all seemed to disappear completely in his later duels. Or how he suddenly used cards with Flipping strategies AND a Level 2 Beast-Type against Ponta, neither of which he has ever been shown to use before or since. Or how he would constantly use cards in Tag Duels and Battle Royals that only make sense to use in duels like that, despite having no way of knowing that most of those duels were about to happen (like the Tag Duel against III and IV, or the Battle Royal with Gilag and Vector). Admittedly a lot of characters are guilty of that last one (lookin' at you Nasch, and you too Syrus) but still...**


	7. Chapter 7

**Gilag LP:** 4000

**Katie LP:** 4000

**James LP:** 4000

"I'll take the first move," Gilag asserted. "I draw! First, I Normal Summon Fire Hand!" In a whirl of flames, a giant molten hand appeared complete with an armoured wrist. As it took to the field, a second smaller hand extended from inside the wrist and attached itself to Gilag's shoulder, who gasped in pain and clutched at his arm. Red lightning coursed across his body, and the massive man staggered forward, his eyes narrowed in agony.

Fire Hand: Pyro-Type/FIRE/Level 4/ATK 1600/DEF 1000

James took a step back. "Did... did he just equip himself with a monster?" he said shakily. Despite his earlier bravado, this man's powerful presence combined with his monster's unusual behaviour was starting to unnerve him.

"Calm down James," Katie called. "It's just a monster. He's trying to psyche you out, nothing more."

"Heh, you wish..." Gilag chuckled, finally regaining his composure. He hadn't expected Summoning his Barian energy-infused Hand monsters to be quite this painful. "I place one card face-down and end my turn." His set card appeared at his feet.

"My turn then, I draw," Katie said. Before making a move, she examined her hand carefully. 'It might be better to play defensive,' she thought. 'At least to start with. I want to get a better idea of this guy's Deck before I go charging in.'

"What's the matter?" Gilag shouted. "Frozen up with fright already?"

Katie ignored him. "I'll just set one monster in Defence Position, plus one other card face-down. Turn end." Her two set cards materialised.

"My turn, draw!" James, in the meantime, was thinking very different things to Katie. "I activate the effect of Thunder Dragon in my hand! By discarding it, I can add two more copies of Thunder Dragon from my Deck to my hand." James sent the card from his hand to the Graveyard, while his duel disk extracted two more copies of the card for him to put in his hand. "Now I activate the Spell Card, Polymerization!"

Gilag was mildly surprised by this. "A Fusion already?"

"With this, I fuse the two Thunder Dragons in my hand! Fusion Summon!" The two serpentine creatures briefly appeared, then burst into particles of light, which streamed into the Polymerization card. "Appear, Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon!" The Spell blazed with light, and from within it emerged a giant orange dragon with two rounded heads, each one sporting a vicious-looking purple horn.

Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon: Thunder-Type/Fusion/LIGHT/Level 7/ATK 2800/DEF 2100

"I end my turn there." Secretly, James was rather pleased with himself about this move. Katie had taught him ages ago that playing defensively and playing offensively early on in a duel could invoke very different reactions, depending on the opponent. By going in offensively, James knew he'd be putting pressure on his opponent and possibly force Gilag to reveal his stronger cards much sooner – which Katie could then respond to, either with her face-down card or with her monsters on her next turn.

Katie had already cottoned onto what James was doing, and was silently proud of her boyfriend for making such a seemingly simple, yet highly tactical play. Her face-down was more a precaution than a vicious reaction card, but the cards in her hand would still allow her to make a strong counteroffensive on her next turn, just as James had planned. She smiled to herself, admiring James' strategic thinking in the face of adversity.

Gilag had also spotted what James was doing, and couldn't care less.

"My turn, draw!" he said. "Brace yourself, because now I-" Suddenly he froze, staring at the card he'd just drawn, his massive hand shaking. _'Barian's Force…'_ he thought, his mind filling with dread. _'The Barian's ultimate weapon… if I use this, I can Rank-Up my Number into a Chaos Number and crush these two with ease… but still… I couldn't, could I…?'_ Gilag was really struggling. Like Alit and Mizael, he'd been informed by Durbe about the contract he'd have to take out with his Chaos Number, where he would be forced to offer up his own life energy. That could be fatal even if he won the duel. If he lost... well, who knows what would happen.

Katie watched Gilag's reaction with surprise. The last time she'd seen a duelist act like this over a drawn card was Montsu, the Dragon Sage who'd dueled Matt. And come to think of it, hadn't they met Gilag when he was on his way to see Montsu and the other sages not long after that? Were the two events connected somehow?

While she was pondering this, Gilag finally reached a decision. He placed the card he'd just drawn into his hand, and instead plucked another pair of cards from his hand to play. "I Summon Fire Hand!" A second copy of the fiery hand monster materialised, and like the first, hooked itself to Gilag's shoulder - the same shoulder as the first one. Again Gilag cried out in pain as the energy blazed through his body like a wildfire.

Fire Hand: Pyro-Type/FIRE/Level 4/ATK 1600/DEF 1000

"Then, since I control Fire Hand, I can Special Summon this card from my hand. Appear, Prominence Hand!" A globule of golden burst into life on his field, before swiftly reforming into a bright gold skeletal hand. Like the previous two, this one reached down with its tiny secondary hand and gripped into Gilag's opposite shoulder, causing him yet more discomfort.

Prominence Hand: Pyro-Type/FIRE/Level 4/ATK 600/DEF 2000

'So you want me to start playing offensively do you?' he thought. 'Well, let's just see how much of my power you can stand.'

"Three Level four monsters," Katie muttered. "Watch out James, here comes trouble!"

"Here we go! Level four Fire Hand and Prominence Hand, Overlay!" Two of Gilag's monsters morphed into fully red energy signatures, which then flew upwards, leaving a single Fire Hand behind. On Gilag's field, a galaxy-shaped portal opened up. "I use these two monsters to construct the Overlay Network! Xyz Summon!" Both monsters spiralled down into the portal, which erupted with a maelstrom of flames. Gilag cried out as the flames struck him, and red electricity coursed across his body once more. It was even more agonising than he'd imagined. But he held ground and, determined to complete the Summoning, pushed through the pain. "Smother the entire world! Number 106: Giant Hand!"

The brilliant orange number one-hundred-and-six flared across the field, and the raging flames were suddenly scattered as the Number's sealed form descended: a huge, ornate-looking structure that put the Deltas in mind of a vase. Slowly, the structure unfurled itself, the excess stone falling away until a colossal hand loomed above them, coming up taller than most of the surrounding buildings. It's thick, rocky skin was a light grey colour, and six strange red orbs were set into its surface – one in the centre of its palm, and one in each of its fingertips. The way their coverings folded back to reveal them made it look like the creature had six huge eyes, all surveying the field below them. Two orange Overlay Units traced circled around it. Beneath it, Gilag had managed to remain standing throughout the ordeal, but was breathing heavily from the exertion.

Number 106: Giant Hand: Rock-Type/Xyz/EARTH/Rank 4/ATK 2000/DEF 2000 – 2 OLU

"W- what the hell?!" James gasped. "Number 106... a Number that goes over one-hundred... how the hell is that possible?!"

"James, calm down," Katie called. "Don't get so worked up. Remember, we only assumed that there were a hundred Numbers – that is, we don't know for sure. There could well be more."

"But the Stranger said there wasn't," James protested. "The Stranger said that there were only a hundred-"

"I don't know who the Stranger is," Gilag called, snapping their attention back to him. "But whoever he is, he's right. In your world, there are exactly one-hundred Numbers, numbered from one to one-hundred."

"In our world..." Katie repeated. "Does that mean your Number is from another world?"

"Or maybe it's the Professor's doing," James suggested. "Maybe that snake's been creating artificial Numbers for his other minions to use."

"Maybe... who knows?" Gilag laughed. "Now on with the duel. Go, Giant Hand, attack the girl's face-down monster!" The colossal hand opened its fingers wide and released a huge yellow shockwave. Katie's face-down monster only appeared briefly before being completely incinerated.

Featherizer: Spellcaster-Type/WIND/Level 2/ATK 700/DEF 1100

"I activate Featherizer's effect!" Katie declared. "When it's destroyed by battle, I can send one Gemini monster from my Deck to the Graveyard, then draw one card." She sent **Solstice Armed Mage** to her Graveyard, then drew her card.

"Pointless," Gilag replied. "Fire Hand, attack her Life Points directly!" He clenched his own fist and drew back his arm as if in preparation to punch someone. Above him, the fiery monster mimicked his movements.

"No you don't! I activate the Trap Card, Damage Diet!" Katie's face-down card activated. "With this, all battle damage or effect damage I take for the rest of this turn is halved!" At that moment, both Gilag and Fire Hand punched downwards, smashing the concrete road in front of her and knocking her back onto the pavement behind her. She landed heavily, and felt the breath rush out of her.

**Katie LP:** 4000 → 3200

"You ok, Katie?" James called.

"I'm... fine," she replied, gingerly getting to her feet. "Attacks from that monster feel as real as attacks from Numbers..."

James nodded. "Guess we were right. This guy's not your average duelist."

While they were talking, Gilag was going over the rest of the cards in his hand. Besides Barian's Force, he had two extremely devious Trap Cards. Almost of his own accord, a plan began formed in Gilag's mind, and he chuckled quietly as he pulled the two cards from his hand and placed them on his duel disk. "I place two cards face-down. Turn end."

Katie nodded. "Back to me then, I draw! First, I Summon Gemini Scorpion!" A pair of warriors – one with red hair and one with white – took to the field, both wearing dark armour with red highlights that didn't quite stretch all the way down their arms. They both carried two curved daggers each.

Gemini Scorpion: Warrior-Type/EARTH/Level 4/ATK 1600/DEF 400

"Gemini Scorpion's effect activates," she declared. "When this card is Summoned, I can Special Summon any Level four or lower Gemini monster from my hand. I choose-"

"You choose nothing!" Gilag interrupted. "I activate Giant Hand's effect! When a monster effect is activated on your field, I can detach one of Giant Hand's Overlay Units to negate the effects of any monster you control!" A single orange orb was absorbed into the 'eye' in Giant Hand's palm.

Number 106: Giant Hand: 2 → 1 OLU

"Fatally-Paralyzing Pressure Point Strike!" The Number curled itself into a fist with its first two fingers pointing directly at Gemini Scorpion, and from the fingertips, a pair of vicious-looking conical spikes emerged. Suddenly, the monster surged forward, each finger striking one of the warriors in the centre of the chest, prompting a cry of pain from each of them as their effects were sealed.

"Damn!" Katie cursed. "That effect's powerful. But you won't stop my move now."

Beneath the mask Gilag's left eye widened slightly, suggesting that he may have raised an eyebrow. "Hmm?"

"From my hand, I activate the Spell Card, Swing of Memories!" The Spell materialised on her field. "With this, I can revive any Normal Monster from my Graveyard. I choose the monster I sent to the Graveyard with Featherizer's effect! Be revived, **Solstice Armed Mage**!" A pale-skinned magician appeared, wearing a dark red trench coat and carrying a long staff. At the end of the staff was a sculpture of a dragon wrapped around a crystal ball.

**Solstice Armed Mage: Spellcaster-Type/Gemini/FIRE/Level 4/ATK 1800/DEF 200**

"Let's go! Level four Armed Mage and Gemini Scorpion, Overlay!" Both monsters morphed into amorphous masses of energy – one red and one orange – and shot upwards. Where they had stood, a galaxy-shaped portal opened. "I use these two monsters to construct the Overlay Network! Xyz Summon!" The two Material Monsters blazed down into the portal like miniature comets. The portal exploded, and a column of fire rose from it. "Be born! **Number 91: Flarestormer**!"

A bright red number ninety-one flashed above the field. Out of the column of fire rose the Number's sealed form – it resembled a piece of rock in a V-shape, with volcanic veins pulsing over its surface. A massive crack rent the stone in two. Then another split, and another, each one revealing more of the monster hidden within. It was a centaur, with a burning body. With a roar, the creature freed itself from its shell, and stretched its arms to the sky, as though trying to embrace the sun itself. Its body seemed to be made entirely of magma, with only a few black strips of armour and its orange bat-like wings giving it any semblance of bodily features. Two red Overlay Units orbited it.

**Number 91: Flarestormer: Pyro-Type/Xyz/FIRE/Rank 4/ATK 2000/DEF 200 – 2 OLU**

* * *

Author-made cards:

Solstice Armed Mage  
Spellcaster-Type/Gemini/FIRE/Level 4/ATK 1800/DEF 200  
This card is treated as a Normal Monster while face-up on the field or in the Graveyard. While this card is face-up on the field, you can Normal Summon it to have it become an Effect Monster with this effect. ●This card's original ATK becomes 2400.

Number 91: Flarestormer  
Pyro-Type/Xyz/FIRE/Rank 4/ATK 2000/DEF 200  
2 Level 4 monsters  
This card cannot be destroyed by battle, except by a "Number" monster. Once per turn, during either player's Damage Step, when a face-up monster(s) on the field battles: You can detach 1 Overlay Unit from this card, then target 1 of the battling monsters; that target gains 100 ATK for each monster in your Graveyard until the end of the Damage Step.

* * *

**Fun Fact #21: Alright, now that Alit's cooled off a little, let's move on. Let the Gilag-related carnage begin.**

**Fun Fact #22: Remember, these duels all take place before the WDC finals in the canon ZEXAL's universe. This means that we're restricted a little by future events. For example, no-one can spam The Seventh One (which is a good thing in a way, as it actually allows us to show off the Barian Lord's Decks rather than totally ignoring them in favour of their Chaos Number 10Xs). Also we can't have Gilag use his Chaos Number in this duel, because the time he used it against Yuma and Vector was clearly the first time he'd ever used it. Still, don't cry for Giant Hand Red. There's still plenty of other Chaos Numbers we can show off.**

* * *

**Hand Pun #1: I like Gilag's hands-on approach.**

**Hand Pun #2: It's very handy.**

**Hand Pun #3: Hands up if you agree.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Gilag LP:** 4000

Number 106: Giant Hand: Rock-Type/Xyz/EARTH/Rank 4/ATK 2000/DEF 2000 – 1 OLU

Fire Hand: Pyro-Type/FIRE/Level 4/ATK 1600/DEF 1000

Spell & Trap Card Zone: 3 set cards

**Katie LP:** 3200

**Number 91: Flarestormer: Pyro-Type/Xyz/FIRE/Rank 4/ATK 2000/DEF 200 – 2 OLU**

**James LP:** 4000

Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon: Thunder-Type/Fusion/LIGHT/Level 7/ATK 2800/DEF 2100

"Summoning your Number this early just to match mine," Gilag smirked. "That strikes me as a move of desperation."

"Keep telling yourself that," Katie retorted. "Go, Flarestormer! Attack Giant Hand!" The molten Number wreathed itself in a veil of flames and charged at the enemy Number. _'Their ATKs are equal,' _Katie thought as her monster charged. _'And if I try to use Flarestormer's effect, he'll just negate it with Giant Hand. Still, if I can destroy both our monsters this way, then James can move in and attack freely on his turn.'_

Once again, however, Gilag was wise to their strategy. "I activate the Trap Card, Vice Hand!" he declared, triggering one of his face-downs. "When your monster declares an attack while I control a Hand monster, this card negates the attack, then deals damage to you equal to your monster's ATK!" A huge robotic hand suddenly extended from the card and slammed down on top of Flarestormer, stopping it in its tracks.

"2000 damage?!" James gasped. "That's too much! Katie, you have to stop it!"

"I know," she replied. "I activate the other effect of Damage Diet in my Graveyard! By banishing it, all effect damage I take for the remainder of this turn is halved!" Just as the card ejected itself from her Graveyard, the robotic hand suddenly released a bright red laser that lashed across her body, causing her to stumble back.

**Katie LP:** 3200 → 2200

Gilag laughed. "Ha! This isn't a duel, this is target practice! If this is really the best you two can muster up, I weep for your teammates who are out there dueling alone."

"My friends will be fine, and so will we," Katie snapped, regaining her footing as Flarestormer cantered back to her side. "I place one card face-down and end my turn." She watched her face-down materialise at her feet, then turned to James. "Go for it James! Make this turn a good one!"

"You got it," he grinned. "My turn, draw-"

"Hold it there!" Gilag cut in the moment James had drawn his card. "During your Standby Phase, I activate the Trap Card, **Hand Over**!"

"**Hand Over**?" James questioned as the card flipped up.

"With this card," Gilag was saying, "if I have only a single card in my hand, I can set that card from my hand directly to my opponent's side of the field in order to draw two cards. However, I won't be able to conduct a Battle Phase or use any other Spell or Trap Cards this turn." He held the last remaining card in his hand aloft and allowed it to dissipate from between his fingers, before reforming in James' Spell & Trap Card Zone. With that done, Gilag drew his two cards, then settled back to watch his plan unfold.

James looked down at his duel disk with a bemused expression. "So... this card is mine? I can use it?"

"If you dare," Gilag chuckled. "That card is extremely powerful. Do you even have the nerves to try it?"

"Check it thoroughly first James," Katie warned him. "And tell me what the card is. Gilag still has a face-down card – even if he can't activate it this turn, that card he gave you could well be bait to lure you into a trap."

With a nod, James reached down to take the card from his duel disk to read it... and froze. The exact moment his fingertips touched the card, he seemed to stop, his body rigid, his eyes wide.

"James...?" Katie said. "What's the matter?"

James said nothing. All the life and spirit seemed to have drained from his eyes, leaving them soulless and empty. Out of nowhere, a strange symbol appeared on his forehead. To Katie, it looked like a variation of the fleur-de-lis, a French heraldic symbol, with a red gem set into its centre.

Gilag was positively jubilant. _'Perfect! Just perfect!' _he thought. _'It would have been foolish to try that trick on the girl: she has many Numbers and a very strong will. No way I could've brainwashed her. But the boy… he has a few Numbers, but his willpower is pathetic. The power of Barian's Force overcame him with ease.' _He turned his fierce glance on Katie, who was starting to get worried about the strange symbol, and was asking James what the matter was. _'You could barely handle one Barian foe, little girl. Now let's see you handle two!'_

James shook his head slightly, then took his hand away from the card and took one from his hand instead. "I activate the Spell Card, De-Fusion," he declared, his voice now dull and monotonous as his will was slowly overwritten. "With it, I split Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon back into its Fusion Materials." Sure enough, the orange dragon dissipated, only to be replaced by the monsters that had made it up.

Thunder Dragon: Thunder-Type/LIGHT/Level 5/ATK 1600/DEF 1400

Thunder Dragon: Thunder-Type/LIGHT/Level 5/ATK 1600/DEF 1400

"Then I activate the Spell Card, Monster Reborn, to revive my third Thunder Dragon." At his command, a purple resurrection circle appeared on his field, and the third serpentine dragon reappeared from it and settled alongside its brethren.

Thunder Dragon: Thunder-Type/LIGHT/Level 5/ATK 1600/DEF 1400

"James, what's going on?" Katie said, now seriously concerned. "What're you doing? What card did Gilag give you?"

James ignored her completely. "All three Level five Thunder Dragons, Overlay!" As one, all three monsters turned into amorphous masses of yellow energy, then shot upwards, clearing the way for a galaxy-shaped portal to open beneath them. "I use these three monsters to construct the Overlay Network! Xyz Summon!" The three Material Monsters spiralled down into the portal, which erupted upwards, shaking the concrete beneath the duelists' feet. "Appear before us! **Number 64: Bedrock Dragon Tu Long**!"

A bright yellow number sixty-four flared into life on James right hand, just as a colossal clump of rock and stone rose out of the portal, with a smaller ring of rocks orbiting it. With an explosive retort, a huge crack rent the rocky shell in two. More cracks ran across its surface as whatever was inside pushed against its prison with all its strength... until finally, the stone sphere shattered completely, and the creature inside landed behind James with an earth-shaking crash, the ring of rocks falling to the ground around it. Its body was clearly made of rock – possibly even the same rock it had been encased in – but it was hardly identifiable as a dragon. It resembled a collection of five huge boulders: one in the middle which contained its eyes, then pairs of rocks spreading out from either side, which all tapered upwards into vicious-looking spikes. The dragon was held up by two thick legs the size of tree trunks, each one imbedded a least a few feet into the ground as though it was made of soft soil, not solid concrete. The only real signs of life from the great hulking beast were the creaking of its limbs, and the occasional puff of steamy breath that rose up from under its rocky snout. Three orange Overlay Units circled the behemoth.

**Number 64: Bedrock Dragon Tu Long: Dragon-Type/Xyz/EARTH/Rank 5/ATK2000/DEF 2300 – 3 OLU**

"Tu Long..." Katie breathed. "He actually Summoned one of the Dragon Cards Numbers." She was actually very impressed. Tu Long was an incredibly powerful Number, one which would be able to wipe out Giant Hand while using its own effect to survive. Concern quickly overcame her awe though. James was still acting strange, and she still had no idea why.

James, meanwhile, was slowly losing the battle for control. His three Numbers were doing everything they could to fight back against the all-permeating powers of Barian's Force, but at the end of the day, two of them were just Numbers. They relied at least in part on their host's inner strength, and James had close to none.

Tu Long was different though. It was one of the Dragon Cards, and as such, its dark powers gave it some leverage against the Barian energy flooding through its host's body. Its earthly essence also kept it strong, allowing it to endure longer than most of the dragons would have. In the end, however, even it couldn't halt the card's power. One more push, and James would be completely subjugated...

"Now I activate the Spell Card, Rank-Up-Magic Barian's Force!" James declared, triggering the card Gilag had given to him. As the card flipped up, a blaze of rainbow light illuminated the field, temporarily blinding Katie.

"Rank-Up-what?!" she gasped, shielding her eyes.

"Here it comes!" Gilag laughed joyously.

"This card lets me Chaosify and Rank-Up a monster I control, Summoning a Chaos Xyz Monster from my Extra Deck that's one Rank higher!" As he spoke, Tu Long morphed into an entirely crimson-red mass of energy, which then shot upwards into a new, darker portal that opened in the sky above him. "I use Tu Long to reconstruct the Overlay Network! Chaos Xyz Change!" The portal exploded in a shadowy green blaze, and the ground beneath their feet shook more violently than ever. "Appear before us! **Chaos Number 64: Bedrock Dragon Tu Shen Long**!"

The symbol on James' right hand went out like a candle, only to flare into life again moments later as a shadowy, pulsating version of itself. The earth shook more and more, causing panes of glass in nearby buildings to shatter and the concrete road beneath them to crack. While Katie was struggling to stay upright, James seemed unaffected by all of this, and instead stared up at his monster's sealed form descending from the portal – a gigantic sphere of rocks with three rings of smaller rocks orbiting it. The sphere didn't stop to hover and unfold in the air like most Numbers, but instead kept going and smashed into the street with the force of a meteor, shattering the stone prison and instantly releasing the creature inside. At first, Katie thought it looked the same as Tu Long... but as the dust cleared, and the monster stretched its legs out, she saw just how wrong she was.

The creature standing before her now resembled a horrific variation of a centaur. It still had its short rocky body, but now four thick legs supported it, each the size of sheds and the height of a house when stretched, so the bulk of the monster would normally tower above them. The legs were bent though, placing the monster's belly low to the ground in a prone-like state. The body itself now bent at the neck and stretched up much further than it had before, ending in a colossal stone head a good few metres further up. Whereas Tu Long's face had been made from three segments of stone, this one was constructed from five – four smaller, sharp-edged ones encircling the larger main one, from which a pair of dull yellow eyes stared out over the field. As more of the dust drifted aside, the gaps in the monster's rocky skin came into view, revealing a strange coat of pulsating crimson energy that seemed to shift and flow just beneath Tu Shen Long's rocky hide. Four crystalline diamond-shaped objects hovered in front of the dragon, pulsing with the same red energy that flowed beneath the monster's body

**Chaos Number 64: Bedrock Dragon Tu Shen Long: Dragon-Type/Xyz/EARTH/Rank 6/ATK 2600/DEF 2900 – 4 OLU**

* * *

Author-made cards:

Number 91: Flarestormer  
Pyro-Type/Xyz/FIRE/Rank 4/ATK 2000/DEF 200  
2 Level 4 monsters  
This card cannot be destroyed by battle, except by a "Number" monster. Once per turn, during either player's Damage Step, when a face-up monster(s) on the field battles: You can detach 1 Overlay Unit from this card, then target 1 of the battling monsters; that target gains 100 ATK for each monster in your Graveyard until the end of the Damage Step.

Number 64: Bedrock Dragon Tu Long  
Dragon-Type/Xyz/EARTH/Rank 5/ATK 2000/DEF 2300  
3 Level 5 monsters  
Must be Xyz Summoned, and cannot be Special Summoned by other ways. This card cannot be destroyed by battle, except by a WIND "Number" monster. At the end of the Damage Step, if this card battles an opponent's monster: That monster loses ATK and DEF equal to this card's ATK. If this face-up card would be destroyed, you can detach 1 Overlay Unit from this card instead. Your opponent cannot target other monsters you control for attacks.

Hand Over  
Trap Card  
During the Standby Phase, if you have exactly 1 card in your hand: Set 1 card from your hand to your opponent's side of the field, then draw 2 cards. You cannot activate other Spell/Trap Cards, nor conduct your Battle Phase, during the turn you activate this card.

* * *

**Fun Fact #23: Yay, James is being useful! Sort of!**

**Fun Fact #24: To those of you who were asking if the Dragon Numbers would ever be appearing again... here you go.**

**Fun Fact #25: It was always a part of our plans that James would fight his fellow teammate(s) for one reason or another (whether by choice or by being forced). This serves as a good way to balance out the power gap between James and the other Deltas, earn the dueling anti-prodigy a bit of respect, and finally give him a Chaos Number. ****We made a few casual little jokes about James being a Barian Lord and James being the final boss, but as it turns out, it was kind of the truth. This just goes to show you that you cannot disregard everything we say, but nor should you believe anything we say.**  


* * *

**Hand Pun #4: Check out Gilag, handing over Barian's Force like a boss.**

**Hand Pun #5: When it comes down to it, Gilag's quite the handyman.**

**Hand Pun #6: I throw my hands up in the air sometimes, saying "CHAOS XYZ CHANGE!"**


	9. Chapter 9

**Gilag LP:** 4000

Number 106: Giant Hand: Rock-Type/Xyz/EARTH/Rank 4/ATK 2000/DEF 2000 – 1 OLU

Fire Hand: Pyro-Type/FIRE/Level 4/ATK 1600/DEF 1000

Spell & Trap Card Zone: 1 set card

**Katie LP:** 2200

**Number 91: Flarestormer: Pyro-Type/Xyz/FIRE/Rank 4/ATK 2000/DEF 200 – 2 OLU**

Spell & Trap Card Zone: 1 set card

**James LP:** 4000

**Chaos Number 64: Bedrock Dragon Tu Shen Long: Dragon-Type/Xyz/EARTH/Rank 6/ATK 2600/DEF 2900 – 4 OLU**

Katie took a step back, shocked by the creature spawned by the strange Spell Card, and fearful of the method by which it had been created. Chaos Xyz Changing she was familiar with, but through a Spell effect? And what was this Ranking-Up business? First the Over-Hundred Number and now this... what else did Gilag have up his massive sleeve?

And what had he done to James? Ever since James had received that card, he'd been acting cold and distant, going about his moves with a robotic efficiency she'd never seen from him before, and refusing to answer her when she questioned him about it. It was like he was sleepwalking.

"Due to the other effect of Barian's Force," James said, "I can take all the Overlay Units away from one monster on the field, and attach them to my monster. I'll take the Overlay Units from Flarestormer." Both glowing red orbs broke orbit and flew across the field to James' side, where they reformed into diamond-shaped red and gold crystals beneath Tu Shen Long.

**Number 91: Flarestormer: 2 **→** 0 OLU**

**Chaos Number 64: Bedrock Dragon Tu Shen Long: 4 **→** 6 OLU**

"Then, for each Unit it lost, the ATK of the monster I took them from goes down by 300." Two bolts of red lightning shot from the crystals and struck Flarestormer in the centre of its chest.

**Number 91: Flarestormer: ATK 2000 **→** 1400**

"James, what're you doing?" Katie gasped. "I know Flarestormer has more Overlay Units, but... we're on the same team! And Gilag still has Giant Hand, so he could negate your monster's effect-"

"Why would I do that?" Gilag laughed. "I have no reason to hinder my _partner's_ moves."

"Partner? What do you-"

"I activate Tu Shen Long's effect!" James declared. "Once per turn, by detaching two Overlay Units, this monster can reduce the ATK of all monsters on the field besides itself by an amount equal to their DEF!" Two of the crystalline Overlay Units shattered, and their residue was absorbed into the dragon's rocky torso.

**Chaos Number 64: Bedrock Dragon Tu Shen Long: 6 **→** 4 OLU**

With that done, the monstrous dragon raised a single stony leg, then brought it down with a huge crash. The ground shook beneath their feet, the roads cracked, and stones and rocks were thrown in all directions, pelting both Katie's and Gilag's monsters.

Number 106: Giant Hand: ATK 2000 → 0

Fire Hand: ATK 1600 → 600

**Number 91: Flarestormer: ATK 1400 **→** 1200**

"My Giant Hand!" Gilag gasped, before rounding on James. "Hey! You could've warned me that that effect applied to all monsters!"

James ignored him. "Battle! Tu Shen Long, attack Flarestormer!" The dragon opened its rocky maw wide, and began to charge a sphere of orange energy.

"James!" Katie shouted. "James, stop! What's wrong with you?!" When James didn't reply, Katie desperately turned her thoughts to protecting her monster. "I activate the Trap Card, Xyz Coat!" Her face-down activated. "With this, one Xyz Monster I control can't be destroyed this turn!" A spherical shield formed around her Number, just as Tu Shen Long fired a bright orange beam of light straight into the ground in front of itself. The pavement cracked as the blast made its way underground, before erupting like a volcano on Katie's field. Her Number sat safely inside the shield, but Katie herself was blown off her feet, landing heavily a few feet away.

**Katie LP:** 2200 → 800

"Due to Tu Shen Long's other effect," James called out, showing absolutely no remorse for what he'd just done, "1000 ATK is subtracted from any monster it battles."

**Number 91: Flarestormer: ATK 1200 **→** 200**

"I end my turn there."

Katie got up slowly and carefully, cradling her arm. The shoulder injury she'd received a few months ago – back when Matt and Leah had dueled Skyler – still hadn't fully healed, and the battering she'd just taken had made it flare up again. Not that she cared, of course. Her entire mind was focussed on James. He'd just turned on her and attacked her instead of Gilag... why?

"James, what's happened to you? Please, answer me," she called. When James gave no indication that he'd heard her, she rounded furiously on Gilag. "You! What did you do to him?" she demanded.

"Oh nothing much," Gilag chuckled. "I just helped him see who his real enemy is."

"No," Katie shook her head. "James wouldn't just turn on his friends like that, and he definitely wouldn't attack me... partly because he's scared that I'd attack him harder, but mostly because he cares for me. You've done something to him, I know it!"

"Maybe I did," Gilag replied cryptically. "That doesn't change the facts. Now you have two unstoppable enemies. You could barely stand up to me alone, even with your precious friend by your side – how do you expect to cope now that he's betrayed you?"

"He didn't betray me, you brainwashed him," Katie said accusingly. "And he isn't my friend, he's my boyfriend! You got that?"

"Hmm?" This was news to Gilag, and he glanced back and forth between the two of them. "Ah, I see. Well, this makes things even better, doesn't it? Now you have to try and defeat both of us, while also trying not to hurt the one you love!"

"You snake..." Katie growled.

Gilag simply laughed. "My turn, draw!" His eyes widened gleefully as he beheld his drawn card. "Alright, I activate the Spell Card, **Sleight of Hand**!" The Spell materialised before him. "With this, by discarding one card from my hand, each player can select one Spell or Trap Card in their opponent's Graveyard, and place it face-down on their own side of the field." Again, Gilag glanced back and forth between the two kids, while simultaneously discarding The Judgement Hand. "Since I'm the activator, I get the first choice of which Graveyard to scavenge, and we'll go in a circle from there. I choose your Graveyard, girl! So you have to pick a card from your boyfriend's, and he has to pick a card from mine. First, I'll take Xyz Coat from you!"

Katie frowned as the Trap Card flew out of her Graveyard, materialising face-down on Gilag's field. That was an odd choice. Xyz Coat was a good card, but James still had Monster Reborn in his Graveyard from last turn. Why hadn't he chosen that?

"Well, if you won't pick it, I will," she said out loud. "I'll take Monster Reborn from James."

James hardly reacted as the Spell ejected itself from his Graveyard. "I choose Rank-Up-Magic Barian's Force," he said without a second's hesitation.

Gilag chuckled. "I thought you might..." he muttered, catching the card as it came out of his Graveyard, and tossing it to James.

_'So that's it!' _Katie realised as James set the card. _'That card is the cause of all this, it must be! James started acting out the moment he touched it, and now Gilag gave up on taking Monster Reborn just so he could make James take Barian's Force again… that card's brainwashed him, I just know it.'_

"I switch Fire Hand and Giant Hand to Defence Position and end my turn." Both his colossal Hand monsters raised themselves up, spreading their fingers out in a blocking fashion.

"My turn, draw!" Katie drew her card gently, being careful not to exacerbate her injured shoulder. A quick glance at the card she'd drawn was all it took to get her mind racing. _'Dark Hole… well that opens up some options,' _she thought. _'With my Life Points at 800, I could evolve Flarestormer into Flarestorm Charger and attack Tu Shen Long, but if I do that, Gilag will probably use Giant Hand's effect to block Charger's effect, so Tu Shen Long would destroy it. On the other hand, if I use Dark Hole, I can destroy it here and now.' _She glanced sideways at Gilag's field. _'I'll lose Flarestormer for doing it, and Gilag still has my Xyz Coat, so his Giant Hand will survive… but with an ATK of zero, it can't damage me. And I can always revive Flarestormer with the Monster Reborn I took from James later…'_

"What're you doing over there?" Gilag shouted impatiently. "Hurry up and make your move!"

Katie glared at him. "Fine then! I activate the Spell Card, Dark Hole!"

Gilag's impatience quickly turned to shock. "Dark Hole?!"

"With this card, every monster on the field will be destroyed!" Katie said. A huge black vortex opened up in the centre of the field. Flarestormer and Fire Hand were swiftly dragged into it and destroyed.

"I activate the Trap Card, Xyz Coat!" Gilag declared hurriedly, triggering one of his set cards. "With this, my Giant Hand is safe from destruction this turn!" Another spherical barrier materialised, this one protecting the huge rocky hand from the effects of Dark Hole.

"Yeah yeah, I know," Katie said, turning to look at the monstrous dragon behind James, which was struggling against the pull of Dark Hole. "Still, I got what I was aiming for. Tu Shen Long is destroyed-"

"I use Tu Shen Long's effect," James interrupted, his voice still as stiff and robotic as before. "If it would be destroyed, I can detach one of its Overlay Units to protect it from destruction." The dragon suddenly kicked out, shattering one of its crystalline Overlay Units. The shattered remains of the Unit were sucked into the vortex, which closed itself immediately afterwards, leaving the Chaos Number untouched.

**Chaos Number 64: Bedrock Dragon Tu Shen Long: 4 **→** 3 OLU**

"Damnit," Katie said, annoyed and worried that she'd failed to destroy the dragon. Just how many effects did it have? "I set one monster in Defence Position, plus two more cards face-down. Turn end." She placed the cards on her duel disk, bringing her Spell and Trap Card count up to three, including Monster Reborn. _'James… how do I free you…?'_

"My turn, draw," James declared. "I Normal Summon **Spark Knight**!" A warrior in dark yellow armour took to the field with a shout, streaks of electricity running up its blade.

**Spark Knight: Thunder-Type/LIGHT/Level 4/ATK 1800/DEF 1000**

"Spark Knight's effect activates. When it's Normal Summoned, I can Special Summon a Level four or lower Thunder-Type monster from my hand in face-up Defence Position. I Summon **Strangest Quarkonic**!" A tiny yellow orb materialised on James' field, and a minotaur-like demonic blue ghost appeared behind it, cupping its clawed hands protectively around the orb.

**Strangest Quarkonic: Thunder-Type/WATER/Level 1/ATK 0/DEF 0**

"Then I activate the Spell Card, Harmonic Waves!" The Spell appeared directly next to his set card. "This lets me change the Level of a monster I control to four. I choose **Strangest Quarkonic**."

**Strangest Quarkonic: Level 1 **→** 4**

"Two Level four monsters," Katie breathed. "It can't be..."

"Level four **Strangest Quarkonic** and **Spark Knight**, Overlay!" The two monsters turned fully yellow and blue respectively, and shot up into the sky, clearing the way for a galaxy-shaped portal open up on his field for the second time this duel. "I use these two monsters to construct the Overlay Network! Xyz Summon!" The two Xyz Material Monsters spiralled into the portal, which erupted outwards. "Come on out! **Number 73: Matrix Gardna**!"

A yellow light blazed trails across the back of his hand, giving shape to the number seventy-three. From out of the portal flew several streams of yellow digital code, which congealed in the air to form a massive digital structure, resembling the torso half of a suit of armour embellished with electrodes. The entire augmented reality field flickered and distorted around the creature. The digital code rippled like water, each ripple changing its structure very slightly, spreading it out, giving definition to its limbs. Within moments, a fully formed monster stood behind James. It was made entirely out of the yellow coding, and bore the vague shape of a humanoid, with two legs, two arms and a head. Where it differed was in proportion. It more resembled a golem than a human: its legs were short and stubby, whereas its torso was relatively bulky, and its hands were ridiculously oversized. Its head was little more than a semi-flat cylinder. The Number seventy-three was printed onto its chest, and two yellow Overlay Units orbited around it. Tu Shen Long glanced down at the ally Number, a faint look of contempt in its eyes.

**Number 73: Matrix Gardna: Psychic-Type/Xyz/LIGHT/Rank 4/ATK 1700/DEF 2000 – 2 OLU**

"Oh yes!" Gilag said gleefully. "Please do what I think you're about to do!"

"No..." Katie whispered despairingly. "Not another one..."

"I activate the Spell Card, Rank-Up-Magic Barian's Force!" For the second time that duel, James activated the strange card Gilag had given him, which let off a blinding rainbow hue as its power was released once again. "This card lets me Chaosify and Rank Up another of my Xyz Monsters!" Having been on the field for only a few seconds, Matrix Gardna suddenly found itself morphing into a dark red energy signature, which blazed upwards into a black, swirling portal that opened in the sky above them. "I use the Rank four Matrix Gardna to reconstruct the Overlay Network! Chaos Xyz Change!" The portal exploded, releasing a wave of shadowy green energy across the field. "Come forth! **Chaos Number 73: Matrix Overseer**!"

The number seventy-three on James' hand shattered, only to be replaced by a shadowy, pulsating version of the symbol. A sphere of pure red energy – the same energy that flowed beneath Tu Shen Long's skin and through its Overlay Units – descended from the portal and hovered in front of James. The sphere then began to waver like a drop of water in zero gravity, then began to change; growing taller and thinner, gaining definition at its upper and lower points, and slowly turning into the likeness of a thin humanoid. At that moment, the augmented reality flickered again, and the streams of yellow coding that had made up Matrix Gardna's body descended from on high and began wrapping themselves around its body, draping themselves over its shoulders and head, forming crude imitations of clothes. Now that it was more filled out, the energy being looked like it was wearing a huge hooded cloak, leaving only small gaps for the red energy to be seen flowing beneath. Its face in particular was left uncovered, revealing a totally empty, swirling red void, with only the yellow number seventy-three giving it anything resembling 'facial features'. In one hand it held a long sceptre, and strapped to the opposite arm was a massive oval shield, both constructed from the same electric-yellow coding that made up the creature's garments. Three crystalline Overlay Units hovered in front of it.

**Chaos Number 73: Matrix Overseer: Psychic-Type/Xyz/LIGHT/Rank 5/ATK 2000/DEF 3000 – 3 OLU**

* * *

Author-made cards:

Spark Knight  
Thunder-Type/LIGHT/Level 4/ATK 1800/DEF 1000  
Cannot be used as a Synchro Material Monster. When this card is Normal Summoned: You can Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower Thunder-type monster from your hand in face-up Defence Position.

Strangest Quarkonic  
Thunder-Type/WATER/Level 1/ATK 0/DEF 0  
When this card is Normal Summoned: You can add 1 "Charming Quarkonic" or "Hadronic Fusion" from your Deck to your hand.

Number 91: Flarestormer  
Pyro-Type/Xyz/FIRE/Rank 4/ATK 2000/DEF 200  
2 Level 4 monsters  
This card cannot be destroyed by battle, except by a "Number" monster. Once per turn, during either player's Damage Step, when a face-up monster(s) on the field battles: You can detach 1 Overlay Unit from this card, then target 1 of the battling monsters; that target gains 100 ATK for each monster in your Graveyard until the end of the Damage Step.

Chaos Number 64: Bedrock Dragon Tu Shen Long  
Dragon-Type/Xyz/EARTH/Rank 6/ATK 2600/DEF 2900  
4 Level 6 monsters  
This card cannot be destroyed by battle, except by a WIND "Number" monster. If this face-up card would be destroyed, you can detach 1 Overlay Unit from this card instead. If this card is Xyz Summoned by Ranking Up "Number 64: Bedrock Dragon Tu Long", it gains these effects. ●At the end of the Damage Step, if this card battles an opponent's monster: That monster loses 1000 ATK. ●Once per turn: You can detach 2 Overlay Units from this card; all other face-up monsters currently on the field lose ATK equal to their DEF.

Number 73: Matrix Gardna  
Psychic-Type/Xyz/LIGHT/Rank 4/ATK 1700/DEF 2000  
2 Level 4 monsters  
This card cannot be destroyed by battle, except by a "Number" monster. Once per turn, during either player's turn, if this card is in face-up Defence Position: You can detach 1 Overlay Unit from this card, then target 1 face-up monster; apply 1 of these effects until the End Phase. ●Halve its ATK, and increase its DEF by an equal amount. ●Halve its DEF, and increase its ATK by an equal amount.

Sleight of Hand  
Spell Card  
Discard 1 card; each player chooses 1 Spell/Trap Card in opponent's Graveyard and Sets it to their own side of the field, but those cards cannot be used this turn.

* * *

**Fun Fact #26: Needz eevan moar Kayos!**

**Fun Fact #27: It would've been a real shame if James was the only Delta who made it to the end of the series without ever getting a Chaos version of his Number.**

**Fun Fact #28: So, we recently opened up a new account on Archive of Our Own (AO3), an alternate fan fiction site to FanFictionDotNet. We won't be posting anything there just yet, but once The Finale is finished and Delta is wrapped up, we'll be posting the entirety of the Delta story on there (as a single story, rather than the separate segments we use on this site). We'll also be removing the Fun Facts when we upload them there, as a great deal of them are very much 'in the moment' features, describing things like upcoming stories, new cards, or certain events that occurred in the anime at that time. Don't worry, the Fun Facts will be staying on this site; we just won't keep them when we upload the documents to the new site.**

**Fun Fact #29: So, is everyone sick of the Hand Puns yet? Yes? Too bad.**

* * *

**Hand Pun #7: I've got to hand it to you brainwashed-James, you're actually pretty good.**

**Hand Pun #8: Just a few turns in, and he already has the upper hand.**

**Hand Pun #9: This duel is really starting to get out of hand.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Gilag LP:** 4000

Number 106: Giant Hand: Rock-Type/Xyz/EARTH/Rank 4/ATK 0/DEF 2000 – 1 OLU

Spell & Trap Card Zone: 1 set card

**Katie LP:** 800

1 set monster

Spell & Trap Card Zone: 3 set cards

**James LP:** 4000

**Chaos Number 64: Bedrock Dragon Tu Shen Long: Dragon-Type/Xyz/EARTH/Rank 6/ATK 2600/DEF 2900 – 3 OLU**

**Chaos Number 73: Matrix Overseer: Psychic-Type/Xyz/LIGHT/Rank 5/ATK 2000/DEF 3000 – 3 OLU**

'From bad to worse.' Katie had never been in a situation where that phrase seemed more appropriate than this one. Now she was not only fighting the Chaosified version of one of the Dragon Sage's Numbers, but also the Chaos version of James' original Number – a monster which stood taller than many of the buildings surrounding them, and slightly higher than Tu Shen Long. She shuddered to think how strong this one would be.

"Due to the other effect of Barian's Force," James was saying, "I can take the remaining Overlay Unit from Giant Hand and attach it to Matrix Overseer." The last orange Overlay Unit from Gilag's monster sailed across the field, morphing into the same crystalline structure as Overseer's other three Units.

Number 106: Giant Hand: 1 → 0 OLU

**Chaos Number 73: Matrix Overseer: 3 **→ **4 OLU**

Gilag clenched his massive fists in frustration. "Stop that!" he snapped. "Stop wasting my resources!"

_'Well, he may consider me an enemy,'_ Katie thought, _'but at least he's indiscriminate about who he damages along the way.'_

"Now I activate one of Overseer's effects!" James went on. "Once per turn, I can change the battle position of any monster my opponent controls. I'll change your face-down monster to Attack Position." The digital humanoid raised its sceptre and pointed it at Katie's set monster, releasing a stream of electric yellow coding that surrounded the card, forcing up to flip over. From it, a blue-armoured wizard appeared.

Crusader of Endymion: Spellcaster-Type/Gemini/FIRE/Level 4/ATK 1900/DEF 1200

"1900 attack points," Gilag muttered, still irritable at the theft of Giant Hand's Overlay Unit. "Lucky brat."

"Not good..." Katie muttered. "This way I'll be guaranteed to take damage this turn. But neither of James' monsters can finish me off just by attacking Crusader, so he'll have to make two attacks-"

"Battle! Matrix Overseer, attack Crusader of Endymion!" James declared. Behind him, the binary-shrouded creature raised its sceptre up high. "At this moment, I activate Matrix Overseer's effect! Once per turn, when an attack is declared, I can detach one of its Overlay Units to target one monster on the field besides itself. Then, until the End Phase, Matrix Overseer will gain ATK equal to that target's DEF, and gain DEF equal to its ATK." A single crystalline Unit burst into particles of light, and was absorbed into the monster's shield.

**Chaos Number 73: Matrix Overseer: 4 **→ **3 OLU**

"I target Tu Shen Long," James continued. "Tu Shen Long has 2600 ATK and 2900 DEF, therefore Matrix Overseer gains 2900 ATK and 2600 DEF!" A tornado of green coding surrounded the two monsters, channelling the dragon's power and pumping up Overseer's points to incredible levels.

**Chaos Number 73: Matrix Overseer: ATK 2000 **→ **4900/DEF 3000 **→ **5600**

Katie's jaw dropped. "No way! That's insane strength!"

"Now that's more like it!" Gilag said. "Do it! Finish her now!"

Realising that the attack was about to wipe out her Life Points, Katie quickly responded. "In chain, I activate the Trap Card, Magician's Select!" One of her three face-downs flipped up. "When a Spellcaster-Type monster I control is attacked, this card negates the attack, then destroys the monster my opponent controls with the lowest ATK!"

A bolt of bright yellow lightning suddenly shot from the tip of Matrix Overseer's sceptre down towards Katie's only monster. At that moment, however, a glowing green ring materialised in front of Crusader, and the lightning smashed into it instead, leaving the monster behind it untouched.

"The monster on the field with the lowest ATK is Giant Hand!" Katie shouted over the crackling of the lightning. "So Magician's Select destroys it!" With a flash of green light, the bolts were suddenly deflected towards Gilag's field, and Gilag covered his face as his monster was completely incinerated in the resulting explosion.

"This is ridiculous..." Gilag muttered. "They're only fighting each other, yet I'm _still_ getting caught in the crossfire. Chaos Numbers are more dangerous than I imagined."

James, meanwhile, seemed completely unperturbed by everything, including this latest setback. "Matrix Overseer normally switches to Defence Position after it attacks," he said. "But since the attack was negated, it remains in Attack Position. Now, Tu Shen Long attacks instead!" Once again, the dragon reared back, then ejected a stream of orange energy into the ground at its feet. The energy travelled underground again and exploded like a volcano the moment it reached Katie's field. Crusader of Endymion was destroyed almost immediately, and Katie was thrown back once more, landing heavily on her injured side.

**Katie LP:** 800 → 100

"I end my turn there," James finished, again showing complete disregard for what he was doing to his girlfriend. "And during the End Phase, Matrix Overseer's ATK and DEF returns to normal."

**Chaos Number 73: Matrix Overseer: ATK 4900 **→ **2000/DEF 5600 **→ **3000**

Katie was slower to get up this time. Her entire body ached, and her left arm was causing her considerable pain, to the point that it was even a struggle to hold her duel disk up. Her arms and legs were covered in cuts and bruises from where she'd been repeatedly thrown against the concrete. To any onlookers, she would have looked to be in a right state. Not that she cared, of course. There weren't any watchers anyway.

"Gilag, this is low..." she growled, glaring at the cloaked man as she gingerly pushed herself up again. "Making us fight each other. Do you have any idea how James would feel if he knew what he was doing?"

"Oh of course, and it's great," Gilag laughed. "But if I were you, I'd worry more about your other predicament."

"Other predicament?"

"You have to win this duel," Gilag replied. "To do that, you'll have to defeat your boyfriend sooner or later. But he controls Numbers... which means you'll need to use your own Numbers to fight back. But can you do that? Could you subject the one you love to such a vicious attack from a Number?" He held up a hand before Katie could reply. "Don't answer yet. I want to see what you come up with. My turn, draw! I'll simply set a monster in Defence Position and end my turn." His face-down monster appeared.

"My turn... draw!" The motion sent a spasm of pain down her arm, but she gritted her teeth and did her best to ignore it. Gilag was right of course. With her two face-down cards, she could Summon out her Chaos Number. Hell, she might even be able to take James down on this turn, assuming things went her way.

_'But… could I really do it…?'_

It didn't matter to her that he was under the control of some evil force, or that he'd single-handedly caused her the most pain she'd experienced from a duel since she'd first dueled Keane. It didn't matter that he was dueling with powers she'd never seen before, and dueling in a manner that was so incredibly un-James-like. To her, James was still James, and she didn't know if she had it in her to attack him. She loved him, and even the thought of causing him such pain was physically sickening to her.

But on the other hand, she had to think about the bigger picture. If she lost and allowed Gilag to take James' and her Numbers, then an entire world could burn because of her cowardice. James might still be James, but right now James was allied with her enemies. She had to do it. It was a choice between brutally attacking the one she loved and cared for the most in this world, or letting an entire world of people die... she couldn't allow a genocide to happen because of her own weakness.

At so, at that moment, she made her decision. A decision that, she knew, she would regret for a long time to come.

"I activate the Spell Card, Monster Reborn!" she declared, triggering the card she'd taken from James earlier. "This card lets me revive a monster from any player's Graveyard. I revive **Number 91: Flarestormer**!" The crimson number ninety-one flashed across the field as, once again, the fiery centaur took to the field.

**Number 91: Flarestormer: Pyro-Type/Xyz/FIRE/Rank 4/ATK 2000/DEF 200 – 0 OLU**

There was no turning back now, and her Number seemed to know it. With no visible prompting from Katie, Flarestormer crossed its arms over its chest and seemed to fold in on itself, shrinking down, covering itself in a molten layer of rock which completely encased its body. Within seconds, nothing remained but a molten, pulsating piece of rock in the shape of a V. Its sealed form. Beneath the now-sealed Number, a large, galaxy-shaped portal opened up.

"That's... no, it can't be," Gilag breathed, staring at the portal.

"I use **Number 91: Flarestormer** to reconstruct the Overlay Network! Chaos Xyz Change!" With deceptive serenity, the volcanic lump of rock descended into the portal, which exploded upwards like a volcano. "Arise, **Chaos Number 91: Flarestorm Charger**!"

The bright red number ninety-one on the back of her hand shattered, then reformed in a darker, pulsating form. Likewise, the piece of volcanic rock that rose out of the portal was a much darker red, even tinged with purple, with tiny blue flames flickering over its surface like candles. With a sound like a mountain being ripped asunder, the giant V-shaped boulder shattered, showering the field with embers and charred rocks. The centaur that emerged from the molten prison had undergone a similar change. Its armour, originally insubstantial, now covered a far larger portion of its body, and was a deep pitch-black colour as opposed to the rusty silver from before – it was like staring into pure obsidian. The body itself was still constructed from lava, but the appearance it had assumed seemed to be more muscular in the chest, arms, and all four legs. It was also pulsating – dimming slightly and then glowing with molten radiance – as if in time to a heartbeat. Its wings, bat-like and leathery, were now huge; each one was larger than the centaur's entire body. The Chaos Number was still weaponless, but its gauntlets were now coated with spikes around the knuckles, and along the top of the arm right up to the shoulder, meaning the monster could deliver much more deadly charges. A single red orb traced circles around the monster's substantially larger physique.

**Chaos Number 91: Flarestorm Charger: Pyro-Type/Xyz/FIRE/Rank 4/ATK 2000/DEF 200 – 1 OLU**

Gilag took a step back. "Impossible! A Chaos Number Summoned without a Rank-Up-Magic card. You're just a human; how did you manage this?!"

"I activate Flarestorm Charger's effect!" Katie declared, ignoring him. "Once per turn, by detaching one of its Overlay Units, I can increase its ATK by 200 for every monster in my Graveyard, and decrease the ATK of every monster my opponent controls by 200 for every monster in their Graveyard." The centaur took a single lethal swing at its Overlay Unit, shattering it into particles of red light.

**Chaos Number 91: Flarestorm Charger: 1 **→** 0 OLU**

"My Gemini Scorpion and Armed Mage are still attached to Tu Shen Long," Katie said, glancing up at the dragon. "But I still have Featherizer, Crusader of Endymion, and Flarestormer in my Graveyard, so Flarestorm Charger gains 600 ATK!" An inferno of crimson fire surrounded the centaur, upping its ATK.

**Chaos Number 91: Flarestorm Charger: ATK 2000 **→** 2600**

"Additionally, both of you are my opponent's, so this effect counts your Graveyards as one Graveyard. Between you, you have Fire Hand, Giant Hand, The Judgement Hand, **Spark Knight**, and three Thunder Dragons. That's seven monsters, so both Chaos Numbers lose 1400 ATK!"

**Chaos Number 64: Bedrock Dragon Tu Shen Long: ATK 2600 **→** 1200**

**Chaos Number 73: Matrix Overseer: ATK 2000 **→ **600**

"Battle!" she shouted, desperate to get it over and done with before she lost her nerve. "Flarestorm Charger, attack Matrix Overseer!" The blazing centaur wreathed itself in a veil of flames and prepared itself for a single, lethal charge.

"Ha!" Gilag laughed. "Big mistake attacking that monster; you must've forgotten its effect. Go on boy, jog her memory a little!"

"At attack declaration, I activate Matrix Overseer's effect," James declared monotonously. "By detaching an Overlay Unit, I can increase its ATK and DEF by another face-up monster's DEF and ATK, respectively." Another of the glowing red crystals shattered, and was absorbed into the Chaos Number's digital shield.

**Chaos Number 73: Matrix Overseer: 3 **→ **2 OLU**

_'That's it!'_ Katie thought. _'It's now or never!'_

"I target Tu Shen Long. So Matrix Overseer gains 2900 ATK and-"

"Stop right there!" Katie called. "I activate the Trap Card, Defence Drain!" Her last remaining face-down card flipped up and flared with light. "This card strips all the defence points away from one monster on the field, and adds them to one of my monsters as attack points! I'll reduce Tu Shen Long's DEF to 0, and add those points to Flarestorm Charger!" The stony dragon screeched and thrashed about as a veil of white light descended over it, draining all of its defensive power away and transferring it across the field to the enemy Chaos Number.

**Chaos Number 64: Bedrock Dragon Tu Shen Long: DEF 2900 **→** 0**

**Chaos Number 91: Flarestorm Charger: ATK 2600 **→** 5500**

"Now your Matrix Overseer's effect resolves," Katie said. "But since Tu Shen Long has no DEF left for it to draw on, Overseer can only draw defensive power from what's left of its ATK."

**Chaos Number 73: Matrix Overseer: DEF 3000 **→ **4200**

"Go, Flarestorm Charger! Finish off Matrix Overseer!" With a wild shout, the burning Chaos Number charged at Overseer and smashed into it with the force of a train. The binary coding that enshrouded the monster was insubstantial at best, and was simply swept aside, revealing the monster's core of seething red energy. Flarestorm Charger pushed forward that little bit more, and the flames covering its body came into contact with the red energy...

James' entire field disappeared in an all-consuming explosion. The digital monster was incinerated in an instant, Flarestorm Charger was forced back, and both Gilag and Katie covered their faces as the shock wave struck them. The remaining glass in the surrounding buildings shattered, the buildings themselves cracking ominously as the ground rumbled beneath them. Katie screamed James' name, but she was deafened by the explosion, and could barely hear herself.

Finally the shaking stopped and the smoke began to clear, revealing all. James was now lying in a crater some ten metres wide, wisps of smoke rising up all around him, and the smell of burning in the air. His other Chaos Number had disappeared. Thankfully, he didn't seem too badly hurt.

**James LP:** 4000 → 0

* * *

Author-made cards:

Chaos Number 64: Bedrock Dragon Tu Shen Long  
Dragon-Type/Xyz/EARTH/Rank 6/ATK 2600/DEF 2900  
4 Level 6 monsters  
This card cannot be destroyed by battle, except by a WIND "Number" monster. If this face-up card would be destroyed, you can detach 1 Overlay Unit from this card instead. If this card is Xyz Summoned by Ranking Up "Number 64: Bedrock Dragon Tu Long", it gains these effects. ●At the end of the Damage Step, if this card battles an opponent's monster: That monster loses 1000 ATK. ●Once per turn: You can detach 2 Overlay Units from this card; all other face-up monsters currently on the field lose ATK equal to their DEF.

Chaos Number 73: Matrix Overseer  
Psychic-Type/Xyz/LIGHT/Level 5/ATK 2000/DEF 3000  
3 Level 5 monsters  
This card cannot be destroyed by battle, except by a "Number" monster. Once per turn: You can target 1 monster your opponent controls; change its battle position. If this card attacks, it is changed to Defence Position at the end of the Damage Step. If this card is Xyz Summoned by Ranking Up "Number 73: Matrix Gardna", it gains this effect. ●Once per turn, when a monster declares an attack: You can detach 1 Overlay Unit from this card, then target 1 other face-up monster on the field; this card gains ATK equal to that target's DEF, also this card gains DEF equal to that target's ATK. These changes last until the End Phase.

Number 91: Flarestormer  
Pyro-Type/Xyz/FIRE/Rank 4/ATK 2000/DEF 200  
2 Level 4 monsters  
This card cannot be destroyed by battle, except by a "Number" monster. Once per turn, during either player's Damage Step, when a face-up monster(s) on the field battles: You can detach 1 Overlay Unit from this card, then target 1 of the battling monsters; that target gains 100 ATK for each monster in your Graveyard until the end of the Damage Step.

Chaos Number 91: Flarestorm Charger  
Pyro-Type/Xyz/FIRE/Rank 4/ATK 2000/DEF 200  
3 Level 4 FIRE monsters OR 1 "Number 91: Flarestormer"  
This card cannot be destroyed by battle, except by a "Number" monster. If you have 1000 or more Life Points, destroy this card. Once per turn, during either player's turn: You can detach 1 Overlay Unit from this card; until the End Phase, this card gains 200 ATK for each monster in your Graveyard, also all face-up monsters your opponent currently controls lose 200 ATK for each monster in your opponent's Graveyard.

* * *

**Fun Fact #30: Clean-up in aisle everywhere!**

**Fun Fact #31: Part of this duel actually gave us a lot of grief when designing it. We originally intended for Katie to set Solstice Armed Mage instead of Crusader of Endymion, but its ATK was too low. If Matrix Overseer attacked it, people would question why Tu Shen Long didn't attack it instead, and if Tu Shen Long attacked it then the whole Magician's Select move wouldn't work. Life would be so much easier if we could just use Negate Attack or something... but unfortunately, the rest of the duel required that we destroy Giant Hand somehow. Attack Guidance Armour was our other option, but we decided on Magician's Select because it fits Katie's Deck better.**

**Fun Fact #32: Alright people, go back and watch Episode 142 of ZEXAL. Then watch it a couple more times, allowing the full idiocy of Nasch's moves to completely sink in. That Episode is a prime example of the dangers of making overpowered cards, and of poor duel writing in general. Barian was so powerful that the writers were forced to have Nasch make a stupid move in order to let Yuma defeat it. Namely, charging blindly in to attack Beyond the Hope without using Neo Tachyon's effect first, thus allowing Yuma to use all his face-down cards to stop him. The same sort of thing happened in the Yugi vs Atem duel, and the Jean vs Yusei duel. They write the enemies as such strong duelists that the writers have to make them idiots to allow the correct characters to win.**

**Fun Fact #33: Damage Reactor! Ant Barrier! Two more effect damage prevention cards! *Flips table***

**Fun Fact #34: Oh, and while I'm on the subject of Ant Barrier, _of course_ Yuma would have a Trap Card that can be activated from the hand in preparation for fighting Neo Tachyon which he not only didn't know Nasch had, but which doesn't have a damage-dealing effect of any kind!**

* * *

**Hand Pun #10: Katie really took matters into her own hands there.**

**Hand Pun #11: Still, the pressure's on now. Can Katie really handle this all on her own?**

**Hand Pun #12: This duel is hands down the most fun to write.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Gilag LP:** 4000

1 set monster

Spell & Trap Card Zone: 1 set card

**Katie LP:** 100

**Chaos Number 91: Flarestorm Charger: Pyro-Type/Xyz/FIRE/Rank 4/ATK 5500/DEF 200 – 0 OLU**

**James LP:** 0

"James!" The moment she could see straight, Katie abandoned her position and raced across the street to where James lay sprawled in the middle of the giant crater, his clothes charred and ripped from the attack. The strength of the attack had knocked him out cold, but other than that, Katie quickly ascertained that he wasn't too badly hurt. Feeling bad, she put a hand on James' chest and silently apologised to him for what she'd been forced to do.

As she did, she noticed that the strange emblem on James' head had vanished. That thing had first appeared when James was brainwashed, so now that it was gone, she hoped and prayed that James would be back to normal when he woke up. His Chaos Numbers hadn't disappeared though - the cards were still on his duel disk.

"Alright, that's long enough!" A great pressure suddenly closed on Katie's upper arm, and she found herself being yanked up and away from her boyfriend. Shocked, she turned to see what had grabbed her.

It was Gilag. While she'd been fussing over James, he'd come up behind her and pulled her back. Now he was looming over James, his free hand outstretched, his palm facing down towards the unconscious boy, while holding Katie at arm's length away from him. Katie lashed out with her fists and feet, furiously trying to extricate herself from Gilag's grip. The cloaked giant acted as though he could barely feel it.

"I hope you understand what this means," he said, speaking to Katie but never taking his eyes off of James. "By losing a duel to me, the boy's Numbers are forfeit."

"Don't you lay a finger on him!" Katie shouted.

Gilag chuckled. "Oh, I won't..." At that moment, his palm began to glow a soft, shimmering red colour. Katie froze, and watched the same light suffuse James' body as Gilag commenced the extraction process, and began probing the downed hunter for his Numbers.

Several tense seconds passed...

"Nothing..." Gilag angrily clenched his fist, causing the red aura to dissipate. "Where are they? I saw him play them! This kid has Numbers, I know he-"

Suddenly he stopped, the pieces of the puzzle falling into place. The swiftness of which the girl had run over to the boy, the hand she'd gently placed on his chest, the glint of metal beneath her sleeve...

"You," he growled, turning to face the girl he still held.

Katie had stopped struggling against the vice-like grip, and was now staring him down with something close to smugness. "Looking for these?" she asked, showing him the three cards she'd concealed in her hand – Number 73, Number 64, and Number 85. "That's a trick I picked up from one of my teammates. I extracted them while you were walking over. You were so focussed on James that you didn't even notice, you big oaf."

Gilag's eyes narrowed behind his mask. "Why you little...!" He swiftly raised his free hand to face her, his palm lighting up with the same red energy once again. Katie gasped as the red aura surrounded her instead, and she felt the probing presence begin to creep into her soul. Gilag's temper had gotten the better of him, and now he was trying to extract her Numbers before the duel was over.

That was a mistake.

Almost instantaneously, the pulsating number ninety-one on the back of her hand flared with light, and Katie felt a wave of pure rage surge from the very core of her being and down her arm. Gilag yelped with shock and recoiled, releasing her at once and clutching his hand in agony. Katie knew exactly what had happened, and watched expectantly as the cloaked giant slowly uncurled his clenched fist, revealing a nasty set of burn marks from where he'd been holding her arm.

"Well that was stupid of you, wasn't it?" Katie said unsympathetically. "Didn't the Professor ever teach you not extract Numbers from people without defeating them first? And I don't just have Numbers, I have Chaos Numbers. What did you think was going to happen?"

Gilag said nothing, but rather glared at her furiously, cradling his injured hand.

"If you want the Numbers, you'll have to do it the proper way," she went on. "You'll have to finish this duel. Which suits me, because I still owe you one for what you did to James. I place one card face-down and end my turn." She placed the last remaining card in her hand on her duel disk, causing it to appear on her field several yards away. "And now that the battle and my turn is over, Flarestorm Charger loses all of its ATK boosts."

**Chaos Number 91: Flarestorm Charger: ATK 5500 **→** 2600 **→** 2000**

"Go on, your move," Katie said, returning to her position. "Get back to your spot and get on with it."

"Oh I'll do more than that, just you watch..." Gilag growled, backing across the road to his own area. "My turn, draw! First, I activate the Quick-Play Spell, Reload!" His face-down card activated. "With this, I can shuffle my entire hand into my Deck and draw and equal number of new cards."

"You've had that card face-down since the start of the duel," Katie observed. "If you've waited until now to use it, I'd say you have a pretty bad hand and you're getting desperate."

"Don't get cocky just because you defeated my pawn, girl!" Gilag snapped, shuffling Refuse Hand and Scissorhand Dragon back into his Deck. His eyes widened with glee the moment he saw his two new cards. "Perfect! First, I activate the Spell Card, Re Xyz!"

Katie suppressed a gasp as the card appeared. _'Not good,' _she thought.

"By using monsters in my Graveyard as the Material Monsters, this card lets me Xyz Summon any Xyz Monster directly from my Graveyard!" Two red bolts of light flew out of Gilag's Graveyard, and a galaxy-shaped portal opened up on his field. "I use Fire Hand and Prominence Hand from my Graveyard to construct the Overlay Network! Xyz Summon!" Both monsters sailed down into the portal, which erupted with light and fire. Gilag's voice carried over it, his tone pained but determined. "Be reborn! Number 106: Giant Hand!" The fire coalesced, giving shape to the colossal stone hand once more.

Number 106: Giant Hand: Rock-Type/Xyz/EARTH/Rank 4/ATK 2000/DEF 2000 – 2 OLU

"Oh, not this thing again," Katie groaned. "I thought I'd dealt with it with Magician's Select already. Still, its ATK is the same as Flarestorm Charger's, so you'll need more than that to get at my Life Points."

"I'm not done!" Gilag shouted. "It's time to get Giant Hand kitted up for war! I Normal Summon Ice Hand!" In a whirlwind of snow and ice, another skeletal hand appeared, similar in shape to Fire Hand, but covered in patches of ice instead. Like Fire Hand, a secondary claw-like hand extended from the monster and hooked onto Gilag's shoulder, causing him yet more pain.

Ice Hand: Aqua-Type/WATER/Level 4/ATK 1400/DEF 1600

"Then I Flip Summon Magic Hand!" As Gilag's set monster flipped up, a small yellow-lined box appeared, from which a mechanical hand on a spring emerged. Unlike Gilag's previous monsters, this one didn't seem to feel the need to attach itself to its master.

Magic Hand: Spellcaster-Type/DARK/Level 4/ATK 800/DEF 1600

"Level four Ice Hand and Magic Hand, Overlay!" Both Hand monsters morphed into their energy signature forms – one blue, one purple – before shooting up into the sky. A second galaxy portal opened up where they had been. "I use these two monsters to construct the Overlay Network! Xyz Summon!" Both monsters descended into the depths of the portal, which erupted with light. "Come forth! Number 58: Flaming Pressure Demon Burner Viser!"

An emerald green number fifty-eight flashed across the field as, from the portal, a spinning ball of fire emerged, throwing embers in all directions. As it rose to the same level as Giant Hand, its rotation stopped abruptly, and it instantly expelled the veil of flames that had covered it, allowing Katie to see what the creature looked like. There wasn't a great deal to see. The Number was a giant purple sphere covered almost completely with violet carved lines, aside from its face, which was a burning orange scowl. Waves of orange flames burned inside its mouth and behind its empty eye sockets, giving it a furious, demonic appearance. Two bright red, regular-looking Overlay Units circled it.

Number 58: Flaming Pressure Demon Burner Viser: Pyro-Type/Xyz/FIRE/Rank 4/ATK 1000/DEF 1000 – 2 OLU

"Wait a minute..." Katie breathed, staring up at the blazing Number. "No, that can't be right. Yesterday, I saw Skyler use Number 58 against Keane and Esta. How did you get it? And how the hell did you change it from a tornado genie into that thing?!"

"Who says I got it from him?" Gilag laughed. "Who says it's even the same card? For all you know, there could be multiples of every Number!"

Katie was speechless. Everything she thought she'd understood about the Numbers was crumbling around her, and now she didn't know what to think. "What else has the Professor been keeping from us...?" she muttered.

Gilag laughed. "Stupid girl! You know next to nothing about the true nature of the Numbers." He raised a hand aloft. "Let me show you some of their power! I activate Burner Viser's effect! By detaching all of its Overlay Units, I can equip it to any Xyz Monster I control!" Both of the monsters red orbs were absorbed into its facial structure.

Number 58: Flaming Pressure Demon Burner Viser: 2 → 0 OLU

"I equip Burner Viser to Giant Hand!" The stony monster behind him suddenly reached forward and grabbed a hold of the spherical Number. The combination made for a strange-looking creature. Burner Viser had taken the position of the demonic head, while Giant Hand had become some sort of supporting neck, with its fingers curled tightly around the still-burning sphere. "And you'll love this bit... a monster equipped with Burner Viser is allowed to attack players directly!"

"What?!" Katie gasped.

"This is the end!" Gilag roared. "Battle! Giant Hand, direct attack!" Several streams of fire were released from the monster, which swirled around each other, becoming one giant spinning inferno that bore down of Katie from above.

Katie reacted fast. "I activate the Trap Card, Impenetrable Attack!" Her single face-down card activated, encasing her in a translucent yellow dome of energy. "During the Battle Phase only, I can use this card to either prevent a monster I control from being destroyed, or negate all battle damage I take. I choose to prevent battle damage, so your direct attack is useless!" The searing inferno struck the barrier and dissipated, leaving her safe and sound inside.

"Tch..." Gilag said irritably. "Fine, I end my turn there."

As the shield faded away, Katie wiped sweat from her brow. "Phew, just survived that one." She looked up at the Chaos Number still standing beside her. _'But now I'm in a bind. The only monster I control has enough attack points to destroy both of our monsters, which would be good if I could then Summon another monster with 4000 ATK… but I don't think my Deck can manage that with just one card. No, I need something defensive. I need something that can protect me from whatever he Summons after I destroy his Number.' _She glanced down at her Deck apprehensively. _'Come on Deck, please give me something good…'_

"My turn... draw!"

* * *

Author-made cards:

Chaos Number 91: Flarestorm Charger  
Pyro-Type/Xyz/FIRE/Rank 4/ATK 2000/DEF 200  
3 Level 4 FIRE monsters OR 1 "Number 91: Flarestormer"  
This card cannot be destroyed by battle, except by a "Number" monster. If you have 1000 or more Life Points, destroy this card. Once per turn, during either player's turn: You can detach 1 Overlay Unit from this card; until the End Phase, this card gains 200 ATK for each monster in your Graveyard, also all face-up monsters your opponent currently controls lose 200 ATK for each monster in your opponent's Graveyard.

* * *

**Fun Fact #35: This Chapter was starting to get a little too long for its own good, so we split the ending of the duel plus the aftermath into a new Chapter so we can expand on it a bit more. That means you'll have to wait a little longer before Mizael can start Tachyoning everyone to death. Sorry.**

**Fun Fact #36: As it turns out, both the Numbers used by Alit and Gilag (79 and 58) have the same numbers as the ones Skyler played the day earlier. We didn't plan that in the slightest. It's just a very happy coincidence.**

**Fun Fact #37: I understand that Nasch's death was supposed to be some super-emotional event, filled with tears and emotional speeches and Yuma screaming people's names at the top of his lungs, as is his tradition. I get that that's what they were going for, I really do, but... I just don't care. Honestly, I don't. Nasch was a poorly-handled character from start to finish, with only his dubious status as a 'main character' keeping him in the spotlight, thus shoving other more interesting characters like Alit, Gilag, Durbe, and Merag (_especially_ Merag) into the background. There's several reasons for this. Firstly, he's been through no less than six different signature monsters in his time (17, BRL, 32, 73, 101, Barian), not counting his manga counterpart, which can be very jarring. Secondly, his 'grand revelation' of being a Barian was slapdash and contrived, with the writers spending the prior few Episodes shoving backstory in our faces and trying to say "It's believable! Honest!" Thirdly, he's 'died' twice already; why should this death have any significance? I mean, he's basically purple-alien-Jesus with extra lives and bad hair. Fourthly, as stated above, his omnipresence takes screentime away from characters we actually care about. Fifthly, he's a terrible leader and a terrible person. At the point where he joins the Barians, he knows that the Barians will listen to his orders. He also knows Yuma and Astral, and knows that they don't particularly want to destroy the Barian World. Hell, even the Astral World has changed its stance, so they'll comply with whatever Yuma decides to do. At that point, Nasch could've stopped the war then and there. But instead, he chooses to go on the offensive and risks the safety of the people in his world for no reason. The same thing happens after Don Thousand is defeated; Nasch could've cooperated with Yuma and Astral right then and there to end the war, and use the power of the Numeron Code to revive everyone, fix everything, and maybe set up some barriers between the Astral and Barian World to prevent them fighting again. But no... he wants the power of the Numeron Code all to himself, so he starts a pointless duel with the purpose of eliminating the only human and Astralian who might be willing to cooperate with him, just so he can get complete control of the Code, the greedy so and so. Oh, and sixthly, the Numeron Code can just revive him like everyone else, so this 'death' has no meaning.  
**

**Fun Fact #38: Fun Fact #37 is probably the longest Fun Fact we've ever written. More of a Fun Rant than a Fun Fact, really.**

* * *

**Hand Pun #13: Oh, give the girl a big hand.**

**Hand Pun #14: That'll teach Gilag not to put his hands on people all the time.**

**Hand Pun #15: Can Katie defeat Gilag now that James isn't lending him a hand?**


	12. Chapter 12

**Gilag LP:** 4000

Number 106: Giant Hand: Rock-Type/Xyz/EARTH/Rank 4/ATK 2000/DEF 2000 – 2 OLU

Spell & Trap Card Zone: Number 58: Flaming Pressure Demon Burner Viser [equipped to Number 106: Giant Hand]

**Katie LP:** 100

**Chaos Number 91: Flarestorm Charger: Pyro-Type/Xyz/FIRE/Rank 4/ATK 2000/DEF 200 – 0 OLU**

**James LP:** 0

Katie paused, her arm outstretched, still holding the card she'd drawn.

She was hesitant to turn it over, for fear that it would be something useless. Her Deck had a habit of handing her useless cards when she was in dire straits. Often she was still able to wring some usefulness out of them, but here, with her 100 Life Points matched against Gilag's 2000 ATK direct attacker and his 4000 Life Points, even a mediocre card wouldn't help her win. She needed something defensive, like a monster she could set, or a Trap Card that could block attacks or damage.

However, the exact second she laid eyes on this card, she had to stifle a gasp. What her Deck had chosen to give her – here, in one of her most dangerous duels ever – was mind-blowing. Just this once, it had chosen to be kind.

"Here we go, Gilag!" Katie grinned. "I activate the Spell Card... Rekindling!"

Gilag's eyes widened. "What?!"

As Katie activated the card, a searing wall of fire sprang to life, covering her field in a veil of flickering flames. "With this card, I can revive any FIRE monsters from my Graveyard that have exactly 200 DEF. Be revived, **Number 91: Flarestormer** and **Solstice Armed Mage**!" Both monsters rose up from the flames, her Number proudly taking its position alongside her Chaos Number, with the magician standing on its opposite side.

**Number 91: Flarestormer:** **Pyro-Type/Xyz/FIRE/Rank 4/ATK 2000/DEF 200 – 0 OLU**

**Solstice Armed Mage: Spellcaster-Type/Gemini/FIRE/Level 4/ATK 1800/DEF 200**

"For you to draw such a card at a time like this..." Gilag breathed.

"Next I Normal Summon my face-up **Solstice Armed Mage**!" Katie declared. A ring of light flared around the cloaked magician, and the orb on the end of its staff lit up, signifying that its effects were now active. "And when Armed Mage is Gemini Summoned, its original ATK becomes 2400."

**Solstice Armed Mage: Spellcaster-Type/Gemini/FIRE/Level 4/ATK 1800** →** 2400/DEF 200**

"Battle! Flarestormer, attack Giant Hand!" With a wild cry, the centaur wreath itself in flames and charged towards the enemy Number. It collided directly with the demonic face of Burner Viser, and smashed straight through it, producing an explosion that incinerated Flarestormer, Giant Hand, and the equipped Burner Viser. Katie clutched her arm, feeling her monster's destruction.

Gilag seemed unhurt from losing his Number, but that didn't stop him being angry. "You little brat..." he growled. "I'll make sure you pay for that."

"Save your threats until the end," Katie replied. "**Solstice Armed Mage**, direct attack!" The magician leapt high into the air, brandished its staff, then released a single fireball which sailed down and struck Gilag, causing him to stagger back.

**Gilag LP:** 4000 → 1600

"Now, Flarestorm Charger, finish him off!" Katie called. Her second molten centaur-like monster surged forward, closing the distance between itself and Gilag in an instant. As it reached him, it reared up on its hind legs, so that it towered high above him, its front legs kicking the air wildly. Gilag took a step back... and at that tiny movement, the Chaos Number threw itself back down to the ground, its blazing fist with it...

The resulting explosion was like a bomb had gone off at Gilag's feet. The concrete was ripped up, the wall behind him cracked, and Katie struggled to keep her footing as the ground beneath her shook. Gilag himself roared in pain as he was throw back, landing heavily on the cracked pavement behind him, surrounded on all sides by flickering embers and stone fragments.

**Gilag LP:** 1600 → 0

**Katie LP:** 100 [WINNER]

**James LP:** 0

At long last, the finishing claxon sounded, and the augmented reality descended around them, taking Katie's monsters and the remains of Gilag's Giant Hand with it. Katie removed her D-Gazer and breathed a sigh of relief. Finally, their ordeal was over. Across the street, Gilag was sprawled out on his back, his cards scattered around him, having been ejected from his duel dusk by the force of the attack.

But he wasn't Katie's priority. Because right then, she heard the sound of James stirring, and instantly ran over to tend to him. The Numbers could wait – making sure James was ok was more important.

Gilag's eye opened a crack and watched her. _'Now's my chance…'_

Katie knealt down beside the boy and brought him carefully into a sitting position. "How're you feeling, James?" she asked.

"Achey..." James muttered, rubbing his eyes blearily. "Where am I...? W- what's going on?"

"You don't remember?"

James shook his head. "I remember, um... I remember dueling. Both of us, we were dueling this big cloaked guy- Gilag, that was his name. And he used this weird Trap Card to give me one of his cards, and then... and then I woke up here..." He glanced around him at the ruined streets and cracked buildings. "And apparently I slept through the apocalypse! What the hell happened here?"

"It was a duel between Numbers," Katie smiled. "Those tend to get out of hand."

"Well yeah, but it looks like this street got bombed... did a duel really cause all that...?" Suddenly a thought occurred to James, and he quickly turned back to his girlfriend. "That's right, the duel! Did you, you know..."

Katie laughed. "Priorities much? Yeah, I beat Gilag just before you woke up."

"Oh thank god," James breathed. Then he looked at her more closely. "But what about you? Are you ok? And why're you holding your arm like that?"

"Oh this?" Katie replied. "It's just my old injury flaring up. It's nothing nasty, don't worry about it."

James looked considerably worried about it, but didn't say anything else on the matter. The next few seconds were taken by him attempting to stand up, with Katie gently holding onto him while he found his balance again. Once he was sufficiently stable, he turned to Katie with a bemused look on his face.

"So... mind telling me what exactly happened in that duel? How come I slept through the best part of it: you kicking that guy to the curb? And what knocked me out in the first place?"

Katie instantly opened her mouth to explain, but just then, something stopped her. A thought that hadn't occurred to her until now. Maybe she _shouldn't_ tell him. After all, the guilt at what she'd been forced to do to him was still eating away at her, even though she'd done it as quickly as possible and with the best of intentions. If James found out what he'd been forced to do to her under Gilag's influence, he'd never forgive himself. He'd forever be beating himself up over something that wasn't his fault. But if he never knew what had happened, then he wouldn't need to feel any of that guilt. Maybe... just maybe, just this once... a lie would be better.

"Well?" James asked, miffed at his girlfriend's silence. "What happened?"

"It was Gilag..." Katie said finally. "His Number attacked you and wiped out your Life Points. The force of the attack knocked you out."

"But I had 4000 Life Points!" James said indignantly. "He wiped them all out in one go? And why don't I remember that happening?"

"You took a pretty nasty knock when you hit the ground," Katie said, her self-loathing growing every second. "You're probably suffering from a little amnesia. Give it time, I'm sure it'll come to you."

"I guess..." James muttered. "Still annoying though. I can't even remember how well I played before I got attacked."

Katie turned away, resisting the urge to scream in frustration. She was convinced she was doing the right thing for James' sake, but it infuriated her that she was having to lie to him to do it. Still, she was glad that there'd been no spectators for this duel. Gilag was the only one who knew everything, and he was unlikely to see them again after this.

That reminded her. She still had to extract the Numbers from Gilag before he woke up. Wondering vaguely if her band would even work on Numbers with values over a hundred, she turned to face the cloaked giant and raised her arm, readying her band to begin the extraction... and gasped.

Gilag was gone.

With a stifled curse, Katie bolted across the road to where he'd been lying, James close behind her. When she stopped, she noticed that Gilag had apparently scooped up most of his Deck in a hurry and took it with him, leaving behind some of the more easily replaceable cards, like Reload, Deadly Hand, and Koa'ki Meiru Powerhand. But Gilag himself was nowhere to be seen. He'd simply vanished into thin air.

"Damnit, where'd he go?" Katie said angrily. "How'd he get away so quickly?"

James, in the meantime, was examining the cards Gilag had left behind in his hurried escape. Most were mediocre cards that even James was familiar with. But there was one card – lying there innocently on the pavement – that he'd never seen before. He bent down and scooped it up off the ground, then straightened up and tapped Katie on the shoulder.

"Hey, did Gilag ever use this against you?" James asked, holding up the card. "I've never seen it before."

Katie turned to look at it, and gasped in horror. "Barian's Force! James, put that card down! It's... it's..." She slowly trailed off as she realised that nothing was happening. James expression was still perfectly normal, no strange mark had appeared on his forehead, and, most prominently, he wasn't trying to destroy her with Chaos Numbers. The card didn't seem to be doing anything to him at all.

"It's what?" James said, surprised by her reaction.

"It's... nothing," Katie said, calming herself down. "I was just shocked. Gilag used that card to Summon a Chaos Number against me. Bad memories, you know?"

"Yeah, I get you," James nodded, reading the card's text. "Still, a Spell Card that can Summon a Chaos Number... it'd be a shame to leave a card like this just lying around. I think I'll take it with me to show the Stranger. Maybe she can tell us where Gilag got a card like this."

Katie was torn. On the one hand, she desperately didn't want James to be anywhere near that card, not after what had happened today. On the other hand, she didn't want to say anything about it for fear of giving the game away. Plus, the card had reacted almost instantly when James had touched it last time, and now it wasn't doing anything. Maybe its power had all been used up. Still, better safe than sorry.

"Can I see it?" Katie asked, holding out her hand innocently. James immediately handed the card over, and she pretended to study its text for a few seconds, before placing the card into her own pocket as nonchalantly as possible. "Yeah, good idea. We'll see what the Stranger has to say about it."

To her relief, James didn't notice anything odd about her behaviour, or demand the card back. Instead, he suggested that they meet up with Matt and the others, to which she agreed. They set off at a fast jog towards the entrance to the building, where Matt had stayed to duel Durbe.

"So how long was I out?" James asked as they ran.

"Only a few minutes," Katie replied. She glanced up towards the Professor's building, where the Stranger and Skyler must surely be by now. "I hope we gave them enough time..."

* * *

Author-made cards:

Solstice Armed Mage  
Spellcaster-Type/Gemini/FIRE/Level 4/ATK 1800/DEF 200  
This card is treated as a Normal Monster while face-up on the field or in the Graveyard. While this card is face-up on the field, you can Normal Summon it to have it become an Effect Monster with this effect. ●This card's original ATK becomes 2400.

Number 91: Flarestormer  
Pyro-Type/Xyz/FIRE/Rank 4/ATK 2000/DEF 200  
2 Level 4 monsters  
This card cannot be destroyed by battle, except by a "Number" monster. Once per turn, during either player's Damage Step, when a face-up monster(s) on the field battles: You can detach 1 Overlay Unit from this card, then target 1 of the battling monsters; that target gains 100 ATK for each monster in your Graveyard until the end of the Damage Step.

Chaos Number 91: Flarestorm Charger  
Pyro-Type/Xyz/FIRE/Rank 4/ATK 2000/DEF 200  
3 Level 4 FIRE monsters OR 1 "Number 91: Flarestormer"  
This card cannot be destroyed by battle, except by a "Number" monster. If you have 1000 or more Life Points, destroy this card. Once per turn, during either player's turn: You can detach 1 Overlay Unit from this card; until the End Phase, this card gains 200 ATK for each monster in your Graveyard, also all face-up monsters your opponent currently controls lose 200 ATK for each monster in your opponent's Graveyard.

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**Fun Fact #39: The word 'hand' has ceased to have any meaning to me...**

**Fun Fact #40: There is absolutely no excuse for Solid Overlay to exist. None whatsoever.**

**Fun Fact #41: Wow, that's some pretty powerful Utopia and Rank-Up support Astral pulled out of thin air. Good for him. Hey, wouldn't it have been lovely if he'd used it... oh, I don't know... in any of Yuma's duels prior to this?! Even if they're spectral cards, and thus restricted to Astral alone, why not use them against Kaito when they dueled inside the key? Or against Number 96 in the ruins? Or against Nasch? Or actually, did he create them with the power of the Numeron Code? If he did, then that's a blatant misuse of its powers. "Well, I could use the Numeron Code's power to revive everyone and fix all the damage done in this war... nah, I want some bitchin' new children's trading cards!"**

**Fun Fact #42: Ok, I understand why Astral would have Utopia, since the Numbers were originally his. I even understand why he took Ray, Ray Victory, and Beyond. But why Ray V? That's a Barian card, and Astral is apparently against all things Barian-related (even after all he's seen from the Barian Lords) since he still wants to nuke their world. Also, why take Roots? That isn't even remotely his card; it's Yuma's. Yuma created it with his own Shining Draw, and has never been shown Summoning it alongside Astral. Sure it's a Number, but it's not one of Astral's original Numbers. I hate taking Yuma's side on anything, I really do, but he's been robbed. Astral has no claim on that card.**

**Fun Fact #43: Oh, and don't give me the "But Astral gave Yuma the ability to use Shining Draw" argument. Yes, that's true, but that doesn't automatically give Astral claim to Roots. That's like a doctor giving an Olympic runner a prosthetic leg, watching them win a marathon, then demanding the medal they received on the grounds that "they gave them the ability to run that marathon".**

**Fun Fact #44: Right, so, personal update. My workload is really starting to snow me under, so I'm afraid I've been forced to take drastic action. The Finale will be put on a temporary hold while I use the time to get back on track. In exchange, so you guys aren't missing out on stories, AuroraSol's been kind enough to work on finishing the Ignition story she started over on her profile, even though she also has a lot of work of her own. I'm eternally grateful to her for this, and I'll buy her _all_ the pints when I get the chance.**

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**Hand Pun #16: Ha! Gilag played right into her hands.**

**Hand Pun #17: That's what you get for raising a hand against the Deltas.**

**Hand Pun #18: This is why Gilag never dirties his hands with grunt work. It always ends in disaster.**

**Hand Pun #19: Mint condition copies of Barian's Force are hard to find nowadays. They'll have to settle for that second hand one.**

**Hand Pun #20: Think of it as a generous donation, James. A hand-out, if you will.**

**Hand Pun #21: It might even be a hand-me-down card that Gilag received from someone else.**

**Hand Pun #22: Sorry everyone, I want to keep ploughing ahead with The Finale, but my hands are tied here.**


End file.
